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DoD Op Enduring Freedom Casualty update as of 10am 9 Oct 2009

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | October 10, 2009 at 02:51 am

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With wars raging in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama is at a crossroads in Afghanistan. His senior general in Afghanistan has recommended an additional 40,000 troops or face failure.

Just yesterday, President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, which many consider to be premature, even to the point that it is considered a joke and devaluation of this award .

U.S Casualties have increased again during this past week. Here is the update of total casualties as of 10 am 9 October 2009. The number of Deaths has now risen to 792, which is an increase of 18 over the previous week. Since I started this weekly report this is the largest number of KIAs in one week.

Casualties in Afghanistan keep mounting amidst the debate over a new strategy. The National Security Council has now met at least once to debate a new strategy. The Generals in the field seem to be supporting a massive troop increase, while some on the NSC including Joe Biden and General (ret) Jones support a diminished stand off fight with drones and surgical air strikes.
A prolonged conflict, advocated by General McChrystal, is not supported by the U.S. public, especially President Obama's constituency on the left. Being President, however, is not a popularity contest. Leaders sometimes must make hard decisions that do not flow with the main stream of polls and popularity. How will President Obama decide? Being the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama is under a lot of pressure. He must weight the pros and cons of the recommendations carefully and not be overwhelmed by expectations.

The longer a decision on Afghanistan is delayed, Obama will feel the pressure to act and keep the interest of the U.S. and the troops in the field in the forefront.

OEF U.S. Military Casualties Total Deaths KIA Non-Hostile WIA RTD ** WIA Not RTD

In and Around Afghanistan 792 612 180 1,688 2,509

Other Locations**** 72 5 67 1
OEF U.S. DoD Civilian Casualties 1 1

Worldwide Total 865 618 247 1,688 2,510

As of Saturday, October 10th, 2009, at least 792 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday October 9th 10:00 AM EDT.

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nanute

at 03:31 on October 10th, 2009

Ah! The ongoing saga of what to do in Afghanistan. Escalating troop levels after receiving the Nobel Peace Price does add a bit of irony to the decision.

Let's remember, the opposition on the right is starting to question this conflict as well. George Will, among others have been calling for withdrawal from the region.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 04:06 on October 10th, 2009

I agree nanut, there are the hardliners that will see Obama as weak if he cuts back, maintains the status quo or even withdraws.

The middle of the road types on both sides, would like to see a withdrawal since they can.t see where this conflict is going to lead, except for more casualties.

Apparently the decision on Afghanistan strategy is still weeks away.

Rory Cripps

at 08:14 on October 10th, 2009

Nanute: I think that anyone in our age group especially, whether they're left or right, would have to question this conflict. How long is this going to go on for? The politicians can't even reach agreement as to the objective of the war and who the troops should fight! The Afghanistan war has been going on for years now in one form or the other. NATO troops continue to get killed, and the politicians are still conducting the equivalent of focus sessions in regard to the war. If the political indecision keeps up, the war in Afghanistan is going to turn out to be a disaster among many disasters.

nanute

at 08:24 on October 10th, 2009

Rory, Agreed, wholeheartedly. I wasn't trying to make this a left or right issue. If you followed the thread from earlier in the week, I made comments that were critical of both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, before this and the Iraq conflict commenced, anyone that spoke out against the new 1% doctrine, and preemptive war, were labeled as unpatriotic or DFH's.