May 15, 2012

US military occupation forces in Afganistan under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered 326 casualties in the week ending May 15, as the official casualty total for the Iraq and AfPak wars* rose sharply to 113,582.

The total includes 79,471 casualties since the US invaded Iraq in March, 2003 (Operations “Iraqi Freedom” and “New Dawn”), and 34,111 since the US invaded Afganistan in November, 2001 (Operation “Eduring Freedom”)

AFGANISTAN THEATER: US forces suffered 100 combat casualties in the week ending May 15, plus 225 “non-hostile” casualties as the monthly total was reported. The total rose to 34,111. This includes 17,497 dead and wounded from from what the Pentagon classifies as “hostile” causes and 16,614 dead or medically evacuated (as of May 7) from what it calls “non-hostile” causes.

IRAQ THEATER: US forces in Iraq suffered one WIA in the week ending May 15 while the “non hostile”list was adjusted slightly downward dropping the total to 79,471. That includes 35,752 dead and wounded from “hostile” causes and 43,719 dead or medically evacuated (as of May 7) from “non-hostile” causes.

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by reporting regularily only the total killed (6,453 – 4,488 in Iraq,1,965 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (48,176–32,226 in Iraq, 15,950 in Afghanistan). They ignore the 58,948 (42,752 in Iraq,16,196 in AfPak (as of May 7) military casualties injured and ill seriously enough to be medivaced out of theater, even though the 6,436 total dead include 1,380 (962 in Iraq, 418 in Afghanistan) who died from those same “non hostile” causes, including 314 suicides (as of May 7) and at least 18 in Iraq from faulty KBR electrical work.

*LIBYA :Operation “Odyessy 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.