August Officially The Deadliest Month Of The Afghanistan War

It isn’t over yet, but already August 2011 stands as the single deadliest month of the war in Afghanistan:

Sixty-six U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan so far this month, making August the deadliest month for American forces in the nearly decade-long war.

Nearly half of the troops killed died on Aug. 6 when the Taliban shot down a Chinook helicopter in eastern Afghanistan. That was the single deadliest event of the war and sent the monthly total soaring, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

The 30 American service members — most of them elite Navy SEALs — were aboard the helicopter as it flew in to help Army Rangers who had come under fire. Most of the SEALs who died were from the same unit that killed bin Laden, although none of the men took part in that mission.

Aside from the 30 killed in the crash in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, 23 died this month in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in southern Afghanistan, the main focus of Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces. The remaining 13 were killed in eastern Afghanistan.

The deadliest month for American forces until now was July 2010 when 65 were killed.

(…)

So far this year, 402 international service members, including 299 Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan.

I struggle to understand what the point of these losses actually is at this point.

 

FILED UNDER: Afghanistan War, Military Affairs, National Security, US Politics, , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. OzarkHillbilly says:

    I struggle to understand what the point of these losses actually is at this point.

    “Peace with Honor” Doug, peace with honor. That is the best we can hope for, for the dead of these wars.

  2. Kanani says:

    No doubt, the serve and die with honor. And maybe someday that honor will mean something deeper to those they leave behind. But for now, there is only the gash across their horizon.

  3. michael reynolds says:

    A gash across their horizon. Nice phrase. Mind if I steal it?