Lousy Liberal Media
By New York Times headline: G.I. Death Toll in Afghanistan Worst Since ’01
That would seem to imply that there were more deaths in 2001 than there have been this year. Otherwise, the headline could read “G.I. Death Toll in Afghanistan Worst of the War”.
That headline would be much more accurate, as 74 Americans have died thus far this year in Afghanistan, while only 12 died in 2001. But, hey, who’s counting?
It’s fair to say that casualty counts aren’t the best way of determining progress in war. Casualty rates over time, however, can tell us something, and that something is that the situation in Afghanistan (to say nothing of Iraq) doesn’t seem to be improving. Now, if the US military, in conjunction with Afghan and NATO forces, was steadily increasing it’s area of control in Afghanistan, that would be something, and would justify higher casualty counts. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence of that happening, however.