Afghanistan's Death Toll Under Obama Is Shocking



Photo: Secretsofthefed

U.S. president Obama's watch has seen 73% of American casualties in that war, in 33% of the period of the entire war.  Where is the CBS-NBC-ABC death watch on this tally???

(CNSNews) - Twelve years ago today, nineteen al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

In the war that Congress authorized against al Qaeda only three days after that attack, the vast majority of the U.S. casualties have occurred in the last four and a half years during the presidency of Barack Obama.

In fact, according to the CNSNews.com database of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan, 73 percent of all U.S. Afghan War casualties have occurred since Jan. 20, 2009 when Obama was inaugurated.

The 91 U.S. casualties in Afghanistan so far in 2013 are more than those that occurred in the first two full calendar years of the war (2002 and 2003) combined, when 30 and 31 U.S. troops were killed there.

Imagine if Bush had inherited the war from Obama what the headlines would be today.  But in order for people not to have their faith shaken in this president, clearly, they clearly cannot be exposed to these sort of facts.

Japan disaster has a human cost

I'd like to add my thoughts and prayers to those going out for the people in Japan affected by the terrible earthquake and tsunami.

Frightening scenes.

Devastation

But more importantly there's a human toll, which is very sad:

IWAKI, Japan (AP) — The confirmed death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan yesterday stands at 686, but the government says it could be far higher. 

The destruction stretches hundreds of miles along the coast, where thousands of hungry survivors have been huddling in darkened emergency centers cut off from rescuers and aid.  

While the full scale of disaster is not yet known, a top government official says reported cases alone suggest that more than 1,000 were killed.  

One report says four trains disappeared yesterday and still have not been located. Another says 9,500 people in one coastal town are unaccounted for and that at least 200 bodies had washed ashore elsewhere.

The damage to nuclear reactors could still add yet another layer to the tragedy.  Let's pray it doesn't compund the trouble. 

Pressuring the President on Iraq

The chart on the left shows the effect the surge had in Iraq - it worked. Quite dramatically. It shows that that the liberals got it wrong on Iraq.

They gave up on Iraq as soon as Bush declared victory. At that point it became a political tool for them to pound the President with, over and over again.

True, liberals are pretty much anti-tough in general, and many never wanted to have anything to do with Iraq. But many, having the drum beating constantly, began to believe their own rhetoric. And it became an understanding that Iraq had to end regardless of the consequences.

Now they are applying the same hammer to President Obama. This article in AP News, is being used to hammer Obama given that he's going to go 3 months beyond his promised withdrawal date.

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. death toll for April rose to 18, the military said Friday, making it the deadliest in seven months for American forces in Iraq. The sharp increase from the previous month came as a series of bombings also pushed Iraqi deaths to their highest level this year.

In the latest violence, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a restaurant on the reservoir of Iraq's largest dam near the northern city of Mosul. At least five people were killed and 10 wounded, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The spike in attacks has raised concerns that insurgents are stepping up their efforts to re-ignite sectarian bloodshed as well as questions about the readiness of the Iraqis to take over responsibility for their own security as U.S. troops begin to withdraw.

Except look at the graph. Deadliest doesn't really do the current state justice. 18 deaths (reported as 19 elsewhere) is only one more death than February and November 2008. The spike is not a spike at all as far as US troops are concerned. When the American deaths were at their peak, deaths of Iraqis were less than an afterthought. Not now. The panic to get out is still there, just under the surface.

That President Obama is slightly less liberal than promised, the hysteria about the violence may yet bubble up to the surface again. The President, who sometimes seems like he listens to whomever he's spoken to last, could capitulate to a premature withdrawal in a knee-jerk reaction. That would be bad for Iraq, bad for the middle east and therefore bad for America.