Though the recent escalation announcements have turned much of the attention to the predictions of increased violence in 2010, the 2009 Afghan War still isn’t quite over, and new milestones continue to be reached.
An ambush late last week took the US death toll to 300 for 2009 alone, the highest since the 2001 invasion. Yesterday another bomb blast took the toll to 301.
Britain lost another soldier this afternoon, bringing their own toll to 100 for the year. Not only is this the worst toll since the war began for them, it is the deadliest year for the British military since 1982.
The record tolls in Afghanistan were dramatically higher than the previous records, which were set in 2008. Admiral Michael Mullen predicts that the 2010 death toll will be even higher than 2009 was, with the US escalation driving ever-rising violence.