Afghanistan, August 2012
September 3rd, 2012 at 7:55 am by Dr. Drang
I’m not sure how the New York Times decided that August was the month in which the US military suffered its 2,000th death in the Afghanistan war. The way I see it, that happened back in June.
I’ve been getting my figures from icasualties.org, which documents its figures, corrects them from time to time, and has always seemed pretty reliable.
Maybe the Times is only considering deaths that occurred in Afghanistan. That figure apparently did just pass 2,000, but doesn’t include troops who died after being transferred to hospitals outside Afghanistan. Whatever the calculation, it was good to see a major news outlet—the major news outlet—acknowledge the continuing cost of a war that grinds on with little continuing support and no continuing accomplishments.
September 3rd, 2012 at 8:22 am
What do you think about the fact that in some places, girls are now allowed to go to school?
September 3rd, 2012 at 9:22 am
“No continuing accomplishments,” John, not “no accomplishments ever.” I thought it was right to invade Afghanistan in 2001 and still think so. But I don’t think we belong there anymore.
Let’s be clear, though: we didn’t invade Afghanistan so little girls could go to school. I hope you’re not suggesting we did.
September 3rd, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I’m very surprised you thought it was a good idea in 01. What has changed since then?
September 5th, 2012 at 10:22 am
We defeated Al Queda largely, we made the Taliban think twice before helping them, and we killed Osama Bin Laden.