Two more NATO soldiers were confirmed killed on Sunday, though officials have yet to release the nationalities of either. The two died in an insurgent attack and a bomb blast, respectively. This brings the NATO toll for 2010 to 600.
Which of course is by far the deadliest year since the 2001 invasion, topping the previous record of 2009’s 521, which itself was miles ahead of the 2008 record of 295. Indeed since 2005 every year has been considerably worse than the previous year, and repeated escalations by the Obama Administration have ensured this trend’s continuation as the war enters its 10th year.
And of course 2010 still has two months to go, though generally speaking the first major frost of winter spells an end to major combat until the spring, with much of the nation remaining virtually inaccessable during the winter months.
The latest milestone comes as US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke has just declared publicly that the government isn’t even tryig to win this war militarily anymore. This must be a particular blow to the families of the soldiers that continue to die over the increasingly nebulous goals of a seemingly endless conflict.
Three US soldiers were reported killed today Oct. 25 in Afghanistan. And the vast majority of the 600 "Nato" soldiers killed in the last year were US soldiers.
Why do you allow the US to hide behind the phony facade of "NATO" and reprint their meaningless press releases that contain almost no reliable information concerning the course of the war?
If you would follow up your empty "NATO" reports the following day when next of kin are notified in the US you could find a complete detailed report from the Department of Defense web site that gives the name of the US soldier the location of his death, and with the exception of Helmand province, the circumstances including IED, small arms fire, mortar fire etc.
If you would simply followed these daily casualty reports you would notice the extraordinary number of US soldiers dying in Helmand for instance where the US surged last spring.
man its a good thing those afganis don't speak english or believe in christ, or else we might have to feel bad about their deaths too.