Operation Enduring Freedom – The Widow-Maker
Posted on October 2nd, 2011
Dilrook Kannangara
The true cost of Operation Enduring Freedom to America is shocking. It is USAƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s widow maker.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Driven by the greed to get rich from othersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ riches, the west embarked on many wars over the years. When the Soviet Union was there, it was not easy but today as the world policeman, the west is having a field day. Despite their complete dominance over the world, battles have been tough. Especially the Iraq and Afghanistan battles have been particularly tough. USA managed to run away from Iraq but coalition troops are bogged down in Afghanistan in a never ending war. War casualties take many shapes. True accounts of direct and indirect war casualties have not been published in total in order to retain public support for war. Here are some truths, facts and figures of Operation Enduring Freedom. Who is winning the war? Looks like there will not be a winner of this war.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ever Increasing Casualties
The following summary of coalition forces casualties in Afghanistan is from icasualties.org (http://icasualties.org/oef/).
2001 – 12
2002 – 70
2003 – 58
2004 – 60
2005 – 131
2006 – 191
2007 – 232
2008 – 295
2009 – 521
2010 – 711
2011 until September – 466
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is a steady increase over the years. It does not include the number of defence contractors who died. It is substantial. Billion of dollars are paid to defence contractors so that the full brunt of the war is not solely shouldered by the coalition forces. American troops are the mainstay of coalition forces. A number of nations have gradually withdrawn their troops. This year it is expected to be marginally lower than last year. However, the war is far from over. The 2014 deadline will not be met at the rate of war currently progressing. There is nothing to prevent the reemergence of the Taliban even if it was completely defeated. Western Frankenstein monsters in Afghanistan and Pakistan will once again target western civilian and military interests after coalition troops have left Afghanistan.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Suicides Kill More Than Battles!
US data on soldiersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ suicide is more comprehensive than other coalition nations. Most other nations suppress their data given the extreme unpopularity of war. In 2009 suicides claimed 381 lives of US soldiers whereas only 317 died in war! For the second year in a row, 468 soldiers committed suicide in 2010 against 462 battlefield deaths. Accidents killed another 47 in the same year outside war zones. These figures have been verified from a number of sources and are correct.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://www.good.is/post/more-us-soldiers-killed-themselves-than-died-in-combat-in-2010/
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In 2011 until July, 241 US soldiers died in war and 245 lives were lost due to suicide. The trend continues.
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/16/army-suicides-at-a-record-high-last-month/
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In other words, the true cost of the war in terms of coalition troop casualties is double the number of reported figures.
Extreme inhumane military strategies, lack of moral justification of these wars, underestimation of the strength of the enemy, lack of public support both home and in battlefronts and inexperience in counter-terrorism warfare are the primary causes of this calamity.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Extreme inhuman military strategies include the elimination of war crimes by way of killing own soldiers. On the night of May 1, 2011 US Navy SEAL Team Six killed unarmed Osama Bin Laden, his unarmed son and seriously injured his wife. Without allowing an Islamic burial, his body was dumped in the sea possibly to avoid a post mortem, ever. However, in the modern day of Wikileaks, the commanders were in fear of exposure. Barely 95 days passed and the same US Navy SEALS Team Six was called for another high profile attack in Afghanistan among others. There were 38 in the Chinook helicopter of which 8 were Afghans. It mysteriously crashed killing all onboard. It remains the single most devastating event involving coalition troops in the ten year history of the war. US commanders played down the event and stated that SEALS who participated in Bin Laden assassination were not in it. However, by then news had already spread. A similar late cover up was done after a photo of Bin LadenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s bullet ridden body was widely circulated over the internet. It is not difficult to see the connection between the two events separated by just 95 days. The same fate awaits Libyan rebels!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ More US Female Soldiers are Sexually Assaulted by Fellow Soldiers than Killed in War
According to a news report published in the prestigious TIME magazine, more US female soldiers are assaulted by their male counterparts working with them than killed in war. Quoted from the news report, the Pentagon’s latest figures show that nearly 3,000 women were sexually assaulted in fiscal year 2008, up 9% from the year before; among women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number rose 25%. When you look at the entire universe of female veterans, close to a third say they were victims of rape or assault while they were serving ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ twice the rate in the civilian population.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If 33% of US female soldiers are sexually victimized by their fellow US soldiers, what is the protection civilians have?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Actually the problem is worse than that. Most cases go unreported for the fear of reprisals or demotion.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These casualties of war are not reported and are blamed on individual wrongdoers whereas the problem of such a massive scale is more structural.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Male Soldiers Rape Other Male Soldiers than a Third the Number of Casualties
In a horrifying revelation, the number of reported man to man rape incidents in the US forces in 2010 was 110. However, Pentagon estimates that the real number to be many times higher. Given the humiliation associated, only a very few men opt to file confidential reports of rape. The problem reached such dangerous proportions that the US government appointed a special unit to address the issue.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/04/03/the-military-s-secret-shame.html
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is the true picture of the US led war and how its soldiers and population undergo severe hardships to sustain this greedy war. All these are on top of huge financial and social disasters brought about by the war. Direct financial burden of the two wars from 2001 to 2011 fiscal years amounts to US$ 1.28 trillion. [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf] Strangely this amount is very close to the number by which the US debt ceiling was raised. In other words, had the USA not gone for these wars, the debt crisis would not have happened. How many more soldiers and families should suffer for all this to end? US led Operation Enduring Freedom is the new widow-maker.
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October 2nd, 2011 at 7:00 pm
This is an unpopular war except to those who gain by it. The rich own stock in the armaments industries and make money every time a bullet is fired or a bomb is dropped. Obama came to power promising to end the war and close the Guantanomo Bay prison. He also promised to try the prisoners and release those who are found innocent (if any). None of these promises have materialized because he is afraid of the negative publicity. We have a President who may be a good man, but is unable to keep his promises. American politics is governed by who gets the most contributions for his campaign. The rich are the biggest contributers and they do not want the war to stop. This is like a dog trying to catch it’s own tail. The war will continue until America runs out of cash to fund it or the population rises up against the Government like in Egypt and overthrows the Presidency.
October 2nd, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Most of the gullible Americans believe in the Bible and that the Universe was created less than 8000 years ago. They believe America is the best country in the world and cannot do anything wrong. Mainly the poor who are ever willing to carry the flag and go to war. They have no idea that they are being used as cannon fodder to advance the interests of the rich, the Christian Church and those of the Jewish Bankers.
Being elected President in the US means little when it comes to the US Agenda for the developing countries. Their agenda is to exploit the world resources, now mainly locked up in the developing world. US President is only the engine driver of an express train. The train goes where the tracks are laid to and he has no power to deviate from the already assigned destination. His power is limited to stopping, starting and to decide how fast the train should go at any particular time.
October 3rd, 2011 at 12:16 am
If only Obama had an advisor like Mr Kanamgara.
But after all its the CIA running USA.
I’m no fan of extremists but no one can permanently defeat Taliban. They have been fighting for thousands of years. They will survive. Most sensible thing to do is to pull out the troops before things get worse. There is no oil or gold in Afghanistan.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:51 am
Another excellent article by Dilrook. Western nations are greedy nations, after the resources in the world. They have highly organised business units that carry out their desires. They have a highly competitive spirit. They have have taken over the naturakl resources in North America. Now they are now destroying the Amazon, which is the lungs for the world. Unless we are prepared to fight our corner we will end up as second class citizens. People need to stand up and be counted and unfortunately, it is not happening and rather sadly, some of us want to give up desires and seek Nirvana rather than giving a good fight.