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Author: TriSec    Date: 08/30/2022 10:53:54

Good Morning.

It's been a while since we've reported on this, but let's return to both Iraq and Afghanistan.


A new report is out concerning the number of casualties caused in these places. It's not just military...the report includes contractors, allies, journalists, police, and of course civilians. Our two wars alone have led to more than 500,000 deaths. Considering that 2,997 were killed on September 11, that's a "rate of return" of 166 to 1. Which nation is a terrorist again?


In the 76 countries in which the U.S. is currently fighting terrorism, at least three have been incredibly deadly: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

And as the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan nears the one year mark, Brown University's Costs of War Project report details just how deadly they've been. It counts how many people have been killed by the "United States' post-9/11 wars" in these three countries, along with others.

The report accounts for deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan between October 2001 and October 2018, and in Iraq between March 2003 and September 2021.

In October 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to defeat the al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and 20 years later, on August 30, 2021, the U.S. completed a chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as the Taliban regained full control of the country.

During the weeks around the pullout, a suicide bomber killed 200 people in Kabul, and a U.S. drone strike would later kill 10 civilians in the final days of the war.

In March 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime under the pretense that the regime had weapons of mass destruction, most notably nuclear weapons. The U.S. pulled out in 2011, paving the way for the rise of ISIS and the re-deployment of U.S. troops.

Pakistan is a little murkier. Since 9/11, the U.S. has conducted hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan and used the country as a military staging area — but Islamabad has been accused of harboring terrorists as well.

The Costs of War report (which compiled data from governments, NGOs, media, and more) notes that the actual number of deaths are low because of the limits documenting death in conflict zones.

"For example, tens of thousands of civilians may have died in retaking Mosul and other cities from ISIS but their bodies have likely not been recovered," the report said.

It also notes that the death toll is only direct deaths — not indirect deaths, such as "loss of access to food, water, health facilities, electricity or other infrastructure."


Consider though, the link embedded in the story. In the 76 countries in which the U.S. is currently fighting terrorism...

76 countries. There are 195 recognized countries in the world. The United States are currently fighting in 38% of them.

https://i.insider.com/5a5b89a028eecc1d008b4e19?width=1000&format=jpeg&auto=webp


Small wonder that we can only afford the military. It's all that we do.
 

3 comments (Latest Comment: 08/30/2022 15:27:31 by Scoopster)
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Comment by Will_in_LA on 08/30/2022 13:28:36
Good morning, bloggers!!!!

I have to say that the level of military spending that we have is not needed as many other countries can step up. We have many pressing needs here in the U.S., and I have to ask how long we can keep this level of spending up?

Comment by TriSec on 08/30/2022 14:03:32
Endless military spending doomed the Soviet Union. We are well down the same path.



Comment by Scoopster on 08/30/2022 15:27:31
Mornin' all..

I've come to the conclusion that social media is simply too much individual freedom for humanity. By algorithmic design, it concentrates and amplifies harassment and threatening behavior too much. The result is the world we have today.