By Steve Hynd
The numbers say it has been a true "annus horribilis" in Afghanistan.
-- For Afghan civilians, 2010 has been the worst year ever with 1,074 dead and over 1,500 injured in just the last six months.
-- For US contractors, the last twelve months have seen a 175% rise in deaths: from 189 last June 30th since the war began in 2001, to 521 this June 30th.
-- U.S. military casualties rose by 60% from last year.
-- June was the worst month ever for US Army suicides, with 32 soldiers taking their own lives. Paul Reickhoff of veterans-rights group IAVA is in no doubt that the primary cause of these suicides is "untreated psychological injuries" sustained in Ameriac's foreign occupations, which have "pushed both troops and veterans to take their own lives".
-- And, while Americans still mostly blame Bush for getting their nation into the dual quagmires of COIN-Colonialist occupation, we are now only 51 lives away from another tragic milestone:
When Obama entered office in January 2009, there had been 568 U.S. casualties associated with the Afghanistan conflict, a number that has grown to 1,086, as of yesterday, according to the Defense Department.
Judging by June - when 60 US servicemen died - next month could see the point at which more American soldiers have died in Afghanistan on Obama's watch than on Dubya's.
Since 2001, our national leaders have doubled down time and again in Afghanistan, and this is the result. Now, the Pentagon and the "very serious" Beltway set are arguing that the US must stay long past the 2011 date Obama had set for the beginning of a drawdown there. With 60% of Americans looking for an exit, it's obvious that the people are smarter than those their leaders.
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