March 29, 2012

US military occupation forces in Afganistan under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered 32 casualties in the period ending March 28, as the official casualty total for the Iraq and AfPak wars* rose to 112, 631.

The total includes 79,479 casualties since the US invaded Iraq in March, 2003 (Operations “Iraqi Freedom” and “New Dawn”), and 33,152 since the US invaded Afganistan in November, 2001 (Operation “Eduring Freedom”)

AFGANISTAN THEATER: US forces suffered 32 casualties in the period ending Mar 28 as the total rose to 33,152. This includes 17,020 dead and wounded from “hostile” causes and 16,132 dead or medically evacuated (as of March 5) from “non-hostile” causes.

IRAQ THEATER: No change in casualties was announced in the period ending March 22 as the total remained at 79,479. That includes 35,750 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as “hostile” causes and 43,728 dead or medically evacuated (as of March 5) from “non-hostile” causes.

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by reporting regularily only the total killed (6,394 – 4,488 in Iraq,1,906 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (47,740–32,224 in Iraq, 15,516 in Afghanistan). They ignore the 58,496 (42,766 in Iraq,15,730 in AfPak (as of Mar. 5) military casualties injured and ill seriously enough to be medivaced out of theater, even though the 6,387 total dead include 1,364 (962 in Iraq, 402 in Afghanistan) who died from those same “non hostile” causes, including 312 suicides (as of March 5) and at least 18 in Iraq from faulty KBR electrical work.

*LIBYA :Operation “Odessy Dawn” launched in March, officially ended Oct 31, 2011 with no reported US casualties.

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.