Afghanistan, December 2012
January 2nd, 2013 at 7:45 pm by Dr. Drang
A significant drop in the casualty rate over the past few months allowed 2012 to end with the US military death total in Afghanistan still under 2,200, something I wouldn’t have expected back in the summer.
Coincidentally, 2,200 is also number of coalition military deaths since the start of 2009—over twice the number of deaths in the 7+ previous years of the war. With no evidence that Afghanistan is any more stable or safe than it was in 2008.
January 2nd, 2013 at 9:05 pm
A quick rechart of this to make the US/UK/others dynamic more apparent. Also of note is that iCasualities tracks deaths outside of Afghanistan but associated with Operation Enduring Freedom.
January 3rd, 2013 at 12:31 am
A clean retelling of the data, Tom. When I started doing these charts, I had no idea I’d still be at it years later. All the months have made my plots more cluttered than I intended.
And you’re certainly right that I chart all the OEF deaths, including the relatively small number (9 this year; less than 100 since 2001; almost all Americans) in other countries. I think of them as connected because they were all spurred by the September 11 attacks (unlike the Iraq War, which simply used September 11 as a pretense). I should make that clear.