Last Week: 84 US Afghan War Casualties

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by reporting only those killed, but rarely mentioning those wounded in action.

Service in Kabul, Afghanistan for Scott Lundell of Utah, a Lieutenant killed in a battle with the Taliban. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King.

(PORTLAND, OR) - US military occupation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq under Commander-in-Chief Obama suffered 84 casualties in the period ending April 17, as the official casualty total for the Iraq and AfPak wars* rose to 113,067. The total includes 79,493 casualties since the US invaded Iraq in March, 2003 (Operations "Iraqi Freedom" and "New Dawn"), and 33,574 since the US invaded Afghanistan in November, 2001 (Operation "Enduring Freedom")

AFGHANISTAN THEATER: US forces suffered 84 casualties in the week ending April 17, as the total rose to 33,574 including the new monthly report on those inflicted by "non-hostile" causes. This includes 17,195 dead and wounded from "hostile" causes and 16,379 dead or medically evacuated (as of April 2) from "non-hostile" causes.

IRAQ THEATER: There was no change in US casualties in week period ending April 17 as the total remained at 79,493. That includes 35,750 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and 43,743 dead or medically evacuated (as of April 2) from "non-hostile" causes.

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by reporting regularly only the total killed (6,418 - 4,488 in Iraq, 1,930 in Afghanistan) but rarely mentioning those wounded in action (47,896--32,224 in Iraq, 15,672 in Afghanistan).

They ignore the 58,753 (42,781 in Iraq, 15,972 in AfPak (as of April 2) military casualties injured and ill seriously enough to be medivaced out of theater, even though the 6,418 total dead include 1,369 (962 in Iraq, 407 in Afghanistan) who died from those same "non hostile" causes, including 312 suicides (as of April 2) and at least 18 in Iraq from faulty KBR electrical work.

*LIBYA: Operation "Odessy Dawn" launched in March, officially ended Oct 31, 2011 with no reported US casualties.

Portland Tribune photo by L.E. Baskow

Order from Powell's

Michael Munk tries to glean important but overlooked items from the world media on the issues of the day and posts them on an irregular schedule. Although items can overlap, he also maintains separate lists for activists in Portland, Oregon and the Northwest, and special lists for: Labor, Latin America, Israel, Torture Taxis, Korea, and the Czech Republic. Sign up here to try the general list or ask to be added to one or more of the special lists.

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