Once again bringing into question administration claims that the US is making progress overseas, new data from the Pentagon show a 20% increase in amputations among US troops in 2011 over the previous year. The 240 cases of deployed troops losing at least one arm or leg is the highest since the 9/11 attacks.
US Marines were more than half of the cases, reflecting their increased deployment on the ground in Afghanistan, where IED attacks continue to be a major source of casualties.
The Pentagon, as ever, tried to put a silver lining on the amputation cloud, saying that the number of soldiers losing limbs reflected improvements in medical treatment on the battlefield that made this “the most survivable war in the history of combat.”
But secretly the generals are furious that more and more of their troops can't salute.
240 cases of amputation? Sheesh, and here I was thinking that they were going to give some real figures, comparable to those of the USSR during their incursion in Afghanistan. Imagine what those poor people in those countries that are being invaded must be like.
240?! its far more than that