Afghan War’s Deadly Toll on U.S. Forces Hasn’t Eased

197 U.S. troops killed in first half of 2011, 195 dead in same period last year

In this Monday, March 14, 2011 file photo, Patricia Weaver, center is comforted by Chief Warrant Officer Wesley Norris, right, and family members of Army Sgt. Jason Weaver from Anaheim, Calif., at a Hero Welcome and Memorial Service at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Calif. Weaver died March 3, 2011 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. Despite U.S. claims of success on the battlefield, American troops have been dying in the first half of this year at the same pace as in 2010, according to a tally by The Associated Press. (Photo credit: Nick Ut / AP file)

By Deb Riechmann

July 2, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan — Despite U.S. reports of progress on the battlefield, American troops were killed in the first half of this year at the same pace as in 2010 — an indication that the war’s toll on U.S. forces has not eased as the Obama administration moves to shift the burden to the Afghans.

While the overall international death toll dropped by 14 percent in the first half of the year, the number of Americans who died remained virtually unchanged; 197 this year compared with 195 in the first six months of last year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. …

According to the AP tally, 271 international troops, including the Americans, were killed in the first half of the year — down 14 percent from the 316 killed in the first six months of last year.

With the American deaths virtually unchanged, the decline reflects a drop-off in deaths of troops from other contributing nations. In the first half of the year, 74 of these troops — from countries like Britain, France and Australia — died compared with 121 in the first six months of last year. …

By contrast, a recent U.N. report found that May [2011]was the deadliest month for civilians since it began keeping track in 2007, and it said insurgents were to blame for 82 percent of the 368 deaths recorded. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site

In this Oct. 29, 2009 file picture, President Barack Obama, right, salutes as a carry team walks with the transfer case containing theremains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., who died in Afghanistan, during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. (Photo credit: Susan Walsh / AP File)

No Way Forward in Afghanistan (June 27, 2011)

Obama Prepares for Afghanistan Pull-Out (June 25, 2011)

Civilian Carnage in Afghanistan (June 14, 2011)

One American Dies Every 18 Hours in Afghanistan (Jan. 1, 2011)

Afghan War Deadlier Than Ever (July 31, 2010)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 2, 2010

Taliban Attack USAID Compound

Afghan security force members stand outside a USAID compound in Kunduz, Afghanistan, after it was attacked by militants on Friday, July 2, 2010. (Photo credit: The Associated Press)

One year ago today, I reported that Taliban suicide attackers stormed a four-story house used by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kunduz, north Afghanistan, killing four people before succumbing in a fierce, five-hour gunbattle with Afghan security forces.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 2, 2009

ACORN: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’

“ACORN will be a paid partner with the Census Bureau and “they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public.”
— Michele Bachmann on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 in an interview with the Washington Times.

ACORN will not be “in charge” of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public, as Bachmann said. … Once again, she is making a scaremongering claim about ACORN with facts that are ridiculously wrong. So we have to set the meter on fire once again. She earns another Pants on Fire.

Two years ago today, on July 2, 2009, I reported that PolitiFact’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Truth-O-Meter rated Rep. Michele Bachmann’s “scaremongering claim” that ACORN will be a paid partner of the Census Bureau and “in charge” of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public in the 2010 U.S. Census as [Liar, Liar] Pants on Fire.