December 13, 2011

US military occupation forces in Iraq and Afganistan under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered combat casualties in the week ending December 13, as the official casualty total rose to 111, 208.

The total includes 79,391 casualties since the US invaded Iraq in March, 2003 (Operations “Iraqi Freedom” and “New Dawn”), and 31,817 since the US invaded Afganistan in November, 2001 (Operation “Enduring Freedom”) and none in Libya (March-October)

IRAQ THEATER: The remaining small number of US forces suffered no combat casualties in the week ending Dec. 13 as the total remained at 79,391. That includes 35,753 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as “hostile” causes and 43,638 dead and medically evacuated (as of Dec. 5) from “non-hostile” causes.

AFGANISTAN THEATER: US forces suffered 55 combat casualties in the week ending Dec. 13 as the total rose to 31,817. The total includes 16,561 dead and wounded from “hostile” causes and 15,256 dead and medically evacuated (as of Dec 5) from “non-hostile” causes.

LIBYA THEATER:Operation “Odyssey Dawn” launched in March, officially ended Oct 31. US combat missions, in which an F-15E was downed with two crewmen slightly injured, were replaced with drones, refueling missions and offshore missile strikes for most of the hostilities.

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by only reporting regularly the total killed (6,331 – 4,487 in Iraq; 1,844 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (47,266 – 32,226 in Iraq; 15,090 in Afghanistan). They ignore the 58,894 (43,638 in Iraq; 15,256 in AfPak as of Dec 5) military casualties injured and ill seriously enough to be medivaced out of theater, even though the 6,325 total dead include 1,333 (960 in Iraq; 373 in Afghanistan) who died from those same “non hostile” causes, including 308 suicides (as of Dec 5) and at least 18 in Iraq from faulty KBR electrical work.

WIA are usually updated on Tuesday at www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

Non combat casualties are usually reported monthly at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm

The above report is published by Michael Munk via his email list.