All these soldiers could be still alive …
Grim milestone: The same number of American soldiers have died in Afghanistan during Barack Obama’s presidency as during George Bush’s entire time in office.
Afghanistan was dubbed ‘Obama’s War’ last night after it was revealed that as many American soldiers have died in the conflict during his presidency as during George Bush’s entire time in office.
According to the latest death tally, 575 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan in the 20 months since Barack Obama took office in January last year.
That is the same number of fatalities the U.S. military suffered under Mr Bush, who launched the Afghan invasion nine years ago in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
With his White House honeymoon well and truly over, Mr Obama is no longer able to blame his country’s travails on the previous administration.
The latest grim milestone is likely to put him back on the defensive over the Afghan war at a time when he is trying to put a positive spin on his strategy to raise the stakes in an effort to beat back the Taliban.
The revelation comes a day after the deaths of soldiers from Britain, the U.S. and Australia pushed the total number of foreign casualties in Afghanistan past 2,000.
The latest figures show that a total of 331 British military personnel have died in the conflict.
The comparison of the human toll during the two presidencies is based on statistics from icasualties.org, which tracks U.S. soldiers’ deaths using Pentagon reports.
It was highlighted yesterday by Robert Naiman, a columnist for the Huffington Post news website and policy director for the Just Foreign Policy Washington think-tank.
‘When the next U.S. soldier is reported dead, the majority of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan will have occurred under President Obama,’ he said.
‘The majority of Americans – including the overwhelming majority of Democrats, and at least 60 per cent of House Democrats – are deeply sceptical of the administration’s
Afghanistan policy not because they are knee-jerk pacifists – obviously they are not – but because the human and financial cost of the war is rising, we have nothing to show for the increased cost, and the administration has not articulated a clear plan to reach the endgame.’
As key mid-term November elections loom, Mr Obama’s popularity has plummeted.
One of the biggest criticisms is the failure to achieve a breakthrough in Afghanistan.
The President has promised a strategy review in December. But British and U.S. commanders have already warned that the battle will only get tougher as they push ahead with plans to take control of Taliban strongholds.
June was the bloodiest month of the entire war with 102 foreign troops killed, largely as a result of operations in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Another 88 soldiers were killed in July.
But in the last few days, the U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in the region, said the strategy for Afghanistan was on course.
Mr Gates added that the U.S. will definitely begin reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistan on schedule next July.
By David Gardner
Last updated at 1:55 AM on 19th August 2010
Source: Daily Mail
Change we can believe in:
– Army Gags Officer Challenging Obama Eligibility; Officer’s Defense Team Demanding Obama Birth Docs
– Why the US is as busted as a busted flush – IMF analysis suggests the US is fiscally bankrupt
– US Military Judge: Confessions Obtained By Threatening The Subject With Rape Are Admissible In Court
– 20 States Fight Unconstitutional ObamaCare In Court
– Elena Kagan Blocked At Least 9 Obama Eligibility Lawsuits
– US: Food stamp Use Hit Record 40.8 Million in May
– US Heads For Civil War Over ObamaCare
– Judge Rules Virginia Can Continue Its Lawsuit To Stop Unconstitutional Obamacare
– Admiral Mike Mullen: US has plan to attack Iran (if needed)
– Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu: ‘Our Own Government Has Become Our Enemy’
– President Obama Kills 66 More US Soldiers in July
– Obama Administration Proposal To Give FBI Access To Your Internet History Without Court Order
– SEC Says New Financial Regulation Law Exempts it From Public Disclosure, incl. FOIA!!!
– Nancy Pelosi Blocks Gulf Disaster Investigation
– And Now ObamaService? H.R. 5741: Universal National Service Act
– Obama Bankster Bill Lets Banks Have US Over A Barrel Again
– Obamacare: Gold Coin Sellers Angered by New Tax Law
– GLOBE MAGAZINE: OBAMA BORN IN AFRICA! WHY HIS PRESIDENCY IS ILLEGAL (!)
– Rep. Michele Bachmann: Obama Is Making The US ‘A Nation Of Slaves’
– General James Mattis who said it was ‘fun to shoot people’ takes over US Central Command
– EU gives US access to its citizens’ private financial data
– Obama Administration To Sue Arizona Over Immigration Law
– Third US carrier, 4,000 Marines augment US armada opposite Iran
– Now truth is bad for you: ‘Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey’
– Obama Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Approved By Senate Committee
– Americans buying their own health insurance face an average 20 percent increase in premiums
– Big Brother DHS And DOD Want To Open US Skies To Spy Drones
– President Obama Has Already Outdone Every Previous President In Prosecuting Whistleblowers
– US government debt to rise to $19.6 trillion by 2015
– Left-Wing Icon Daniel Ellsberg: ‘Obama Deceives the Public’
– US: $13 Trillion Debt Poised to Overtake GDP (Chart of Day)
– 10 US States Where An Absurd Percentage Of The Population Works For The Government
– US ’secret war’ expands globally as Special Operations forces are deployed in 75 countries
– Paul Craig Roberts: A Plague Upon The World: The USA is a “Failed State”
– President Obama Wins The Right to Detain People With No Habeas Review
– US posts 19th straight monthly budget deficit; April deficit nearly four times higher than in 2009
– Hyperfast missile to strike anywhere on Earth within an hour wins President Obama’s support
– President Obama Repaying His Masters At Goldman Sachs
– Marriage Penalties Increase Dramatically Under ObamaCare
– The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente on ObamaCare, Dollar Devaluation And Gold
– Rep. Ron Paul: President Obama Is ‘Not A Socialist.’ ‘He Is A Corporatist.’
– Dylan Ratigan Show With Alan Grayson: The Great Con Job By The Fed, The Government And The Banksters
– Michelle Obama says Barack’s Home country is Kenya – full statement
– Obama Administration Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric
– Judge Napolitano on Obama’s Private Army
– Obama Gives ‘Pesticide Lobbyist’ Post as Chief Agricultural Negotiator
– It’s Official: America Now Enforces Capital Controls
– Rep. Ron Paul: Healthcare Will Drive US To Bankruptcy
– Gerald Celente: This time they will close the Banks & Wall Street (03/27/10)
– John Pilger: Have a Nice World War III, Folks
– The War on WikiLeaks … and Why It Matters
– White House Press Corps longest-serving member Helen Thomas on her one question for Obama
– Joe Biden to Barack Obama: ‘Mr. President, This Is A Big F****** Deal’
– Rep. Ron Paul: Healthcare Bill is ‘Blatantly Unconstitutional And Contrary to The Ideals of Liberty’
– US: THE Most Important Chart of the CENTURY
– Health Care Bill ‘Dangerously Expands IRS’s Power’
– US Government Preparing For Civil Unrest In America
– Record: National Debt Up $2 Trillion in Just 421 Days on Obama’s Watch
– Obama agencies invoking secrecy provision more often than under Bush
– US budget deficit hits record $221bn, the largest monthly deficit in history
– Michael Moore: ‘Democrats are a bunch of wusses … It’s disgusting … I’m sick of them’
– President Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act
– Cybersecurity Bill To Give President Obama New Emergency Powers
– Judge Napolitano and Angela Keaton on Freedom Watch: Obama’s Bush Foreign Policy
– Obama Signs Law Raising Public Debt Limit from $12.4 Trillion to $14.3 Trillion
– President Obama’s Pledge Never to Raise Taxes on Anyone Making Less Than $250,000 a Year
– Paul Craig Roberts: It Is Now Official: The U.S. Is A Police State
– Prof. Russell Roberts Testifies Before House Committee: ‘I Want My Country Back!’
– Director of National Intelligence Says US May Kill Americans Abroad
– President Obama Ups Pakistan Drone Strikes in Assassination Campaign
– The New Vision of the Obama Administration: War Without End
– Pentagon’s New Record Black Budget Tops $56 Billion
– Rep. Ron Paul on Obama seeking to assassinate ‘US citizens’ he labels as terrorist
– White House to Paint Grim Fiscal Picture: Another Record Budget Deficit
– US: GDP Mirage – The Last Hurrah
– Marc Faber: Obama Makes Bush Look Like a Genius
– Obamanomics: Why Did the ‘Stimulus’ Fail to Help the US Economy?
– Paul Craig Roberts: How Wall Street Destroyed Health Care – Greed, Be Thou My God
– President Obama to indefinitely imprison detainees without charges
– Ron Paul: US Foreign Policy is Bankrupting America
– Rep. Ron Paul: State of the Republic Address – ‘Dangerous Times Indeed.’
– America’s Impending Master Class Dictatorship! (MUST-READ!)
– The CFR Controls American News/Media
– US: Unfunded Benefits Dig States’ $3 Trillion Hole
– The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: Financial Mafia Controlling US and Wall Street
– Peter Schiff: The Lunacy of US Government Programs
– Former Dean of Harvard College Harry R. Lewis: Larry Summers, Robert Rubin: Will The Harvard Shadow Elite Bankrupt The University And The Country?
– Experts: Dollar Crisis Looms if US Doesn’t Curb Debt
– Fitch: US Must Cut Spending To Save AAA Rating; US December Deficit Nearly Doubles
– The Coming Sovereign Debt Crisis
– US slides deeper into depression as Wall Street revels
– PIMCO’S Bill Gross: ‘Let’s Get Fisical’ (… or why the US will not make it.)
– Barack Obama’s Health Care Lies And Reversals
– US sheds 85,000 jobs in December; Record 40% Of Unemployed Without Job For 27+ Weeks
– US: Public Pensions Face $2 Trillion Deficit
– U.S. Avoids Technical Default By Three Days
– As an American, I refuse to buy mandatory health insurance … that supports Big Pharma
– Prof. Dr. David Michael Green: Now I’m Really Getting Pissed Off … With Obama
– US Treasuries Post Worst Performance Among Sovereign Markets In 2009
– US losses will top $400 billion on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
– US: More Ammo For The Treasury Bazooka
– US government wants farmers to use coal waste on fields
– The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: The Terror And The Crash of 2010
– We’re Screwed! Hyperinflation like in the Weimar Republic; Great Depression worse than in the 1930s
– US Congress: Banksters Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank
Traitor in chief:
– Treason: Obama gives INTERPOL immunity from the Constitution (Amending Executive Order 12425)
– Peter Schiff on Obamacare, Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae: The Nightmare Before Christmas
– Obama administration backs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac no matter how big their losses may be
– Rep. Dennis Kucinich: US War Presidents ignore Congress and Constitution
– Obamacare: Big payoffs to senators on health bill stoke public anger
– US: Trillions Of Troubles Ahead
– Chinese central banker Zhu Min: ‘The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries.’
– Obamacare: Change Nobody Believes In
– Obama’s surge comes at a cost: At least $57,077.60 per minute
– US National Debt Tops Debt Limit
Hypocrite in Chief (Funny):
– President Obama: Another Busy Day in The Oval Office!
– Fascism in America: By Political Definition The US Is Now Fascist, Not A Constitutional Republic
– John Williams of Shadowstats: Prepare For The Hyperinflationary Great Depression
Liar in Chief (NOT funny!!!):
– Barack Obama Lies 7 Times In Under 2 Minutes!!!!!
– Rep. Dennis Kucinich: ‘These Wars Are Corrupting The Heart Of Our Nation!’
– Famous Investor Jim Rogers: Incompetence In Washington, Abolish The Fed And The Treasury
– Rep. Dennis Kucinich: The Truth About Afghanistan
– Obama’s Big Sellout (Rolling Stone Magazine)
– Obama administration to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion
– Climategate: President Obama’s rule by EPA decree is a coup d’etat against Congress, made in Britain
– Obama administration tells Pakistan: Tackle Taliban or we will
– MSNBC Rachel Maddow: War President Obama
– Ron Paul: ‘Obama is Actually Preparing Us For Perpetual War’
– Afghanistan Surge to Cost At Least $40 Billion, That Is $1.333.333 For One US Soldier Per Year
Liar in Chief (Over 300 soldiers died in 2009 because of this lie!!!):
– Obama: ‘I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am President, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank.’
You can post the Obama/Bush US soldier deaths comparison Counter on your Website: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/obamavsbush.
Just the cost of doing business. Both were clowns entertaining those really in power.