Afghanistan Casualties More Severe Despite Pentagon's Claims Of Progress

[unhappycamper]

Afghanistan Casualties More Severe Despite Pentagon's Claims Of Progress
David Wood
Posted: 12/20/11 03:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- Despite official assertions of progress in Afghanistan, American battle casualties remain stubbornly high, and the severity of the physical and psychological wounds suffered by young Americans is actually increasing.

So far this year, more than 5,000 American troops have been wounded -- about one third of all those injured in Afghanistan since 2001.

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pb[Despite a $22.4 billion Pentagon effort over the past six years, these improvised explosive devices remain the biggest single cause of American casualties, killing or wounding more than 34,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to Defense Department data.

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A U.S. Army study released last summer detailed the increasing severity of battle wounds suffered by troops in Afghanistan. The report said that the number and severity of these wounds, which include the traumatic amputation of two, three or all four limbs, exceeds anything experienced during the Iraq war.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/afghan-war-casualties_n_1161127.html

[Solly Mack]

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