The number of US military deaths in the Afghan theater officially passed 2,000 last week. Mainstream media do not report this because they rely on the AP’s count that ignores troops who died supporting the war (formally: “Operation Enduring Freedom” ) outside Afghanistan.
US military occupation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered 165 casualties in the period ending June 21, as the official casualty total for the Iraq and AfPak wars* rose to 114,202.
The total includes 79,474 casualties since the US invaded Iraq in March, 2003 (Operations “Iraqi Freedom” and “New Dawn”), and 34,728 since the US invaded Afghanistan in November, 2001 (Operation “Enduring Freedom”)
AFGHANISTAN THEATER: US forces suffered 165 combat casualties between June 12-21 in the week ending June 12 raising the total to 34,728. This includes 18,107 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as “hostile” causes and 16,621 dead or medically evacuated (as of May 7) from what it calls “non-hostile” causes.
IRAQ THEATER: More erratic Pentagon reporting reduced WIAs among US forces in Iraq by one in the period ending June 21, reducing the total to 79,474. This includes 35,754 dead and wounded from “hostile” causes and 43,720 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 regularly only the total killed (6,494: 4,489 in Iraq, 2,005 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (48,754: 32,228 in Iraq, 16,526 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 medevac’d out of theater, even though the 6,494 total dead include 1,388 (963 in Iraq, 425 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. NOTE: The Pentagon has stopped its monthly reports on “non hostile” injured and ill. Its previous website was changed to https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_sum_reason.xhtml The last total was as of May 7, 2012.
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.