U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Friday, March 4, 2011, at least 4,439 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to iCasualties.org.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 32,037 U.S. service members have been wounded as of Jan. 31, 2011, according to iCasualties.org.

U.S. Troop Casualties in Iraq

Latest identification:

None

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of Friday, March 4, 2011, at least 1,493 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to iCasualties.org.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, 9,971 U.S. service members have been wounded as of Jan. 31, 2011, according to iCasualties.org.

Latest identifications:

Army Sgt. Kristopher J. Gould, 25, Saginaw, Mich., died Feb. 27, 2011 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Knox, Ky.

Army Spc. Brian Tabada, 21, Las Vegas, died Feb. 27, 2011 in Konar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms fire and a rocket-propelled grenade. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

Army Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt, 31, Rosemount, Minn., died Feb. 27, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 504th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Army Pfc. David R. Fahey Jr., 23, Norwalk, Conn., died Feb. 28, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Army Spc. Rudolph R. Hizon, 22, Los Angeles, died Feb. 28, 2011, in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.

Army Staff Sgt. Chauncy R. Mays, 25, Cookville, Texas, died Feb. 28, 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 705th Ordnance Company (EOD), 63rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 20th Support Command, Fort Polk, La. / Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Army Spc. Christopher G. Stark, 22, Monett, Mo., died Feb. 28, 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 705th Ordnance Company (EOD), 63rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 20th Support Command, Fort Polk, La. / Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Air Force Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden, 25, Williamston, S.C., died March 2, 2011 as the a result of a shooting at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, while en route to Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom. [German officials say Arid Uka, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian working in Germany as a temporary letter sorter, has admitted targeting Americans when he opened fire with a handgun on a busload of U.S. airmen at Frankfurt’s airport on their way to deployment in Afghanistan, killing two and wounding two others.]

Air Force Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback, 21, Stanardsville, Va., died March 2, 2011 as the a result of a shooting at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, supporting operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. [German officials say Arid Uka, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian working in Germany as a temporary letter sorter, has admitted targeting Americans when he opened fire with a handgun on a busload of U.S. airmen at Frankfurt’s airport on their way to deployment in Afghanistan, killing two and wounding two others.]

Army Spc. Jason M. Weaver, 22, Anaheim, Calif., died March 3, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

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Related report

Suspect’s Gun Jammed During Airport Shootings

‘No evidence’ attacker who targeted U.S. airmen was part of a terrorist cell, investigator says

A bullet hole is seen in the driver’s window as a bus is towed away after a gunman fired shots at U.S. military service members who were traveling outside Frankfurt airport, Germany, on Wednesday, March 2, 2011. (Photo credit: Michael Probst / AP)

The Associated Press, Reuters, and NBC News via MSNBC.com

March 4, 2011

KARLSRUHE, Germany — U.S. Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden was standing outside of a bus at Frankfurt airport when a young man first asked him for a cigarette, then whether he was bound for Afghanistan.

When Alden answered yes, the man fatally shot him, point blank, in the back of the head, then stormed aboard the bus shouting “Allah Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great.” He shot and killed Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback, who was at the wheel, then shot and injured two others, German authorities said Friday.

The gunman, identified as Arid Uka, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian, then pointed his FN 9mm pistol at yet another airman seated on the bus. “He pointed his pistol at his head and pulled the trigger twice, but the pistol jammed and no shots came out,” prosecutor Rainer Griesbaum told reporters in Karlsruhe.

Jammed, empty shell casings prevented the weapon from firing again.

Uka, who was raised and schooled in Germany, refused to speak Thursday when brought before a judge and formally charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

But shortly after the attack, he told police that he had taken the weapon and two knives to the airport specifically to kill Americans “as revenge for the American mission in Afghanistan,” Griesbaum said.

“Preliminary evaluations and evidence show it was the act of an Islamist-inspired single perpetrator,” Griesbaum said. “There is no evidence at the moment the act was coordinated with others or that he was a member of a terrorist organization.”

Uka said a YouTube video he saw the day before the incident allegedly showing a brutal raid on a home by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan [link added] had inspired him to prevent what he considered “further atrocities” [link added].

When he saw the busload of 16 airmen parked outside Terminal 2 awaiting transport to the nearby Ramstein Air Base, he approached Alden, 25, from South Carolina, who was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England.

Cuddeback, 21, hailed from Virginia and was assigned to the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He was the only airman in uniform. The others were dressed in civilian clothes.

After his weapon jammed, Uka fled, authorities say. The 22-year-old airman he last tried to shoot chased him into the airport terminal, where he and police overpowered the attacker.

German authorities believe that Uka only recently radicalized and that he acted alone — but Griesbaum said the incident shows there is a serious danger from what he called “virtual jihad,” or those attracted to extremism through the Internet, not part of a radical network. “It underscores the danger of Islamists acting alone,” he said.

Police said Uka was shy, had few friends and appeared to get his ideas not from mosque attendance or personal contact but from the Internet. [Note: Psychologically, Uka appears to fit the puritanical compulsive terrorist profile, similar to 9/11 hijack ringleader Mohamed Atta and CIA bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi.] He had not been observed at any of the mosques that police keep under surveillance, they said. …

Germany’s Bild newspaper said Uka worked as a “sorter” for German postal service at Frankfurt Airport, NBC News reported. …

Full story

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Video

German suspect said to be Islamic radical (NBC “Today,” March 3, 2011) — Investigators are searching for more clues as to why a Muslim, born in Kosovo but raised in Germany, opened fire on a busload of U.S. service members at Frankfurt International Airport. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports. (02:09)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — March 4, 2010

CIA Bomber’s Tangled Web

In a newly released posthumous video, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi says he capitalized on the “stupidity” of Jordanian and U.S. intelligence officials. (Photo credit: IntelCenter via EPA / AP)

One year ago today, I reported that the suicide bomber behind the Dec. 30, 2009 attack on CIA Forward Operating Base Chapman in eastern Afghanistan, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, claimed in a posthumously released recording that he lured U.S. and Jordanian intelligence officers into a trap by sending them misleading information about terrorist targets as well as videotapes he had made of senior al-Qaeda leaders.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — March 4, 2009

Republican Leaders Cower

Video

Steele, Limbaugh in GOP spat (MSNBC, March 3, 2009) — Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele apologizes to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd and the ‘Morning Joe’ team listen and analyze the latest spat within the Republican Party. (07:12)

Two years ago today, on March 4, 2009, I reported that two days after calling conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh a mere “entertainer” with an “incendiary” talk show, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele apologized and acknowledged Limbaugh as a “national conservative leader” in a spat that raised questions about the leadership of the GOP.