| | |  Editorials | Issues | July 2009 
Deaths of US Troops Exceed 5,000 in Wars
 Andrea Stone - USA Today
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July 22, 2009
| | US Marines carry the coffin of Brandon T. Lara, who was killed in Iraq on July 19, 2009. (Gerry) | |
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached two solemn milestones Monday: July has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and the combined death toll surpassed 5,000.
Four Americans were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr said. That brings the number of U.S. servicemembers killed so far this month to at least 30. The previous deadliest month was June 2008, when 28 died, the Pentagon said.
Deaths on both fronts pushed the total U.S. fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan to at least 5,002, according to the Pentagon. That number includes 4,332 military deaths in Iraq and 669 in Afghanistan, as well as 14 Defense Department civilians in both countries.
Another 68 American service members have died in related operations in other countries.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in New Delhi, said the increase in U.S. and allied deaths was "deeply regrettable and tragic."
"We are bearing the brunt of the battle because we put more troops into it," she said.
At least 55 NATO troops have died in Afghanistan so far this month, making July the deadliest for the coalition.
The mounting death toll in Afghanistan comes amid a renewed offensive against Taliban insurgents who gave sanctuary to the al-Qaeda masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and as the Iraqi government takes a larger role in providing its own security. The Pentagon plans to have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of the year, more than double the number there a year ago.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell noted last week the "alarming rate" of deaths, saying it had been "an extraordinarily difficult month for all of us who are so heavily invested in trying to better the situation in Afghanistan."
Almost every military service lost members in July. That's "unusual" in a war where most of the deaths have been in the Army and Marines, said Army Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, who oversees the Pentagon's casualty database. For example, two Air Force crewmembers died Saturday when their F-15E fighter jet crashed in central Afghanistan, and the Navy has lost two sailors.
Ohio State political scientist John Mueller said the 5,000 milestone is unlikely to impact public opinion nearly eight years after the war began. |
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