10 Americans Killed in Five Days in Afghanistan and Iraq

Casualties escalate on both American War fronts.

Image and photos by Tim King Salem-News.com

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - 10 Americans have been killed in five days of fighting overseas. The numbers are grim as the U.S. fights in multiple war theaters with limited forces and resources.

Afghan women wearing burqas. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

In the winter of 2006/07 I was in Afghanistan and I observed a group of Americans who for the most part, were convinced that they were doing a lot of good for the people of Afghanistan. The American defeat of the Taliban in Kabul was a significant event for the poverty stricken people of this ancient and ragged war zone capitol city.

Last summer I was in Iraq and I saw an entirely different war. In this country, no or very few local nationals, are even allowed on American bases. You don't mingle with Iraqi people unless you go "outside the wire" on patrols.

I saw the changes brought about by President Bush's "Surge" which actually made a difference in the conflict, by paying former insurgent Sunni militia members to fight for the side of the Coalition.

The problem is that when you start paying your enemies to be on your side, you need to keep paying them. There needed to be a plan in place before ever making a decision to use this risky approach.

In this case the pay was a meager amount of money that kept the peace in Iraq. Compared to the money that was shelled out to groups like Haliburton in recent years through government contracts, the amount needed to keep the Sons of Iraq was a drop in the bucket. I expand on this later in the article.

Four Killed at Kahdahar

The Department of Defense announced the death of four soldiers who were killed Wednesday in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is reported that the vehicle the soldiers were traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device, and they died in the blast.

Killed in the attack were Captain Brian M. Bunting, 29, of Potomac, Maryland, who was a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Syracuse, N.Y.

Also killed in the attack was Sergeant Schuyler B. Patch, 25, of Owasso Oklahoma. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Kewanee, Illinois.

Another Sergeant, Scott B. Stream, 39, of Mattoon, Illinois, also died in the explosion. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Effingham, Illinois.

The fourth soldier to die in the attack was Sergeant Daniel J. Thompson, 24, of Madison, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, assigned to the 715th Military Police Company, Melbourne, Florida.

Kandahar is a Pashtun area in the southern part of Afghanistan; known for strong elements of Taliban and other anti-Coalition militias.

Casualties in Iraq

We reported another multiple casualty incident two days ago; on February 24th 2009. Three soldiers died February 23rd in Balad, Iraq, in a firefight with insurgents who attacked their unit.

Corporal Michael L. Mayne, 21, of Burlington Flats, New York, Specialist Micheal B. Alleman, 31, of Logan, Utah, and Private first class Zachary R. Nordmeyer, 21, of Indianapolis, Indiana all died in the attack.

They were assigned to the 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Army patrol at Balad, Iraq Salem-News.com photo by Tim King, Summer of 2008

I was in Balad, Iraq last summer and reported on the problems the United States forces would soon face as the federal government stopped funding the Sons of Iraq checkpoints located throughout the country which had been part of the surge strategy. (see this report from Sept. 30, 2008: Could Removal of U.S. Support Shift Iraq's Peaceful Balance? (VIDEO) - Tim King Salem-News.com )

The amount that was required to fund these checkpoints operated by Sunni militia was minimal; with each member of the Sons of Iraq earning $305 U.S. a month. There were roughly 45,000 men on that payroll.

The United States last year handed the program back to Iraq's Shi'ite government, which said it would keep 45% of the Sons of Iraq checkpoints intact.

Sunni militia members told me that the men operating the checkpoints who lost their jobs, would likely be forced to once again work for the insurgency.

Now we report the deaths of several soldiers in this part of Iraq that was relatively peaceful last summer and under the firm control of the Army's 101st Airborne. I went on several patrols with these soldiers out of Balad Those soldiers have since left and they told me that much of their unit would not be replaced when they left Iraq.

I do not know if there is a direct connection between the loss of these soldiers and the closure of the Sons of Iraq checkpoints, but it almost seems impossible that there isn't at least an indirect connection.

Deaths in Afghanistan and Kuwait

Two days prior to this report, Salem-News.com published another set of incidents that led to the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers.

Staff Sergeant Jeremy E. Bessa, 26, of Woodridge Illinois, died February 20th, in Khordi, Afghanistan, when his military vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device followed by small arms fire attack by enemy forces. Master Sergeant David L. Hurt, 36, of Tucson, Arizona, died February 20th, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from wounds received during the same incident. They were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

U.S. soldier in Kuwait Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

The death of an airman in Afghanistan was also reported by the DoD this week. Staff Sergeant Timothy P. Davis, 28, of Aberdeen, Washington, died February 20th near Bagram, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

The Department of Defense announced the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Private first class Cwislyn K. Walter, 19, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died February 19th in Kuwait City, Kuwait, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

She was assigned to the 29th Special Troops Battalion, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Hawaii National Guard.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

Although I wouldn't fail to understand, I hope Americans at large don't grow entirely dismal over these developments. It is a fact that it is not looking good, but hopefully our politics will keep "changing".

Our military is viewed as an occupying force and that is something a nation or group of people can tolerate for only so long.

In spite of that, we have several thousand Oregon Guard forces headed for Iraq in the coming weeks and these soldiers and their families will need a great deal of support in the coming months.

It is important to honor those who die and also extremely important to value all those who served their nation.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan with Oregon troops. Tim recently returned from Iraq where he covered the war there while embedded with an Oregon Guard aviation unit. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com