Five hundred seventy-five: That’s how many US soldiers have lost their lives in the Afghanistan war since Barack Obama became president at noon on January 20, 2009, according to the icasualties.org web site, which tracks US soldiers’ deaths using reports received from the Department of Defense – and which is widely cited in the media as a source of information on US deaths.
According to the same web site, 575 is also the number of US soldiers who lost their lives in the Afghanistan war during the Presidency of George W. Bush.
Therefore, total US deaths in Afghanistan have doubled in Afghanistan under President Obama, and when the next US soldier is reported dead, the majority of US deaths in Afghanistan will have occurred under President Obama.
This grim landmark should be reported in the media, and White House reporters should ask Robert Gibbs to comment on it. It is quite relevant to Gibbs’ implicit attempt to marginalize critics of the war in Afghanistan by claiming that they wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than the abolition of the Pentagon. The majority of Americans – including the overwhelming majority of Democrats and at least 60 percent of House Democrats – are deeply skeptical of the administration’s Afghanistan policy not because they are knee-jerk pacifists – obviously they are not – but because the human and financial cost of the war is rising, we have nothing to show for the increased cost and the administration has not articulated a clear plan to reach the endgame; indeed, administration officials, led by General Petraeus, have just launched a public relations campaign to undermine the substantial drawdown in troops next summer that Democratic leaders in Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have said that they expect.
What is trustworthy information worth to you? Truthout needs your help. Make a donation today.
This grim landmark is not reported directly by the icasualties.org web site – you have to have to go to the right places on the web site to retrieve the data and then calculate it from the data given. The data retrieval and arithmetic is straightforward, but I will carefully explain it here so that any reader – and particular any reporter and news editor – can easily reproduce it.
The top-level organization of the icasualties.org web site is divided into two parts, according to the designations previously given to the “two wars” by the Department of Defense: “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and “Operation Enduring Freedom.” The latter designation includes not just US deaths in Afghanistan, but also non-Iraq US deaths in the conflicts formerly known collectively as the “Global War on Terror”; for example, it includes deaths in the Philippines and Djibouti, far away from Afghanistan.
But you can find in the database US deaths in Afghanistan since 2001 by year and month by first going to this link and then, underneath the table that initially appears under “Fatalities by Year and Month,” choosing in the pop-up menus “US” for nationality, “All Fatalities” for Fatality Type and “Afghanistan Only” for Theatre.
You should then see a table that looks like this (view as web page) (download excel spread sheet).
As shown beneath the table, when you sum the yearly totals you get:
Total: 1150
2001-2008: 564
2009-2010: 586
But this wouldn’t give the right figures for Bush and Obama, because it would allocate all of January 2009 to Obama, when he was only president from noon on January 20.
Subtracting the 14 deaths of January 2009 from the total for 2009-10 gives:
2001-2008: 564
2009-2010 (not counting 1/09): 572
You can find the daily data for January 2009 by going to this link: Scrolling down to January 2009, of the 14 deaths in Afghanistan (there was a January 30 death in Djibouti), 11 took place before January 20 and three took place after January 20.
Adding 11 to 564 and 3 to 572 gives:
Totals:
Bush: 575
Obama: 575
News media generally like landmarks as a way to visit and explain the US death toll from the wars.
This landmark is surely a worthy candidate for consideration.
I expect Robert Gibbs to be asked about it.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy