The Telegraph is claiming that the rate at which British soldiers are being seriously injured or killed on the front line in Afghanistan is about to exceed that suffered by UK troops during the Second World War. While there are many reasons to be cautious about their analysis, e.g. they may be unfairly comparing frontline casualties from Afghanistan with total casualties in WWII, the claim is nonetheless striking.
The casualty rate in the most dangerous regions of the country is approaching 10 per cent. Senior officers fear it will ultimately pass the 11 per cent experienced by British soldiers at the height of the conflict 60 years ago. The rise is partly driven by a tenfold increase in the number of wounded in action – those injured, but not killed – in the past six months as fighting in Afghanistan has intensified.
Last November, only three British soldiers were wounded in Afghanistan by the Taliban, compared with 38 in May.
Meanwhile in Iraq, British troops are now suffering a higher rate of fatal casualties by proportion than their American colleagues.
In a five-month period this year, there were 23 fatalities among the 5,500 British troops compared with 463 fatalities among the United States’s 165,000 troops, according to the Royal Statistical Society. Military commanders are concerned that the high rate will start to have an impact on operations and morale.
Via LFCM
Hey, but we gotta keep that 'special' relationship going.
Special, like between a priest and an altar boy, or a pimp and a whore.
Also every time NATO carries out offensives it ends up killing more civilians than the Taliban.
President Karzai has been begging the US and NATO to stop bombing from the air since 2002 but they haven't felt it necessary to bother listening to the elected head of government they keep pointing to.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-24-kar…
Sorry to be off-topic, Craig, but where do you think Miliband gets his information from that the "Litvinenko teapot" was found to be full of plutonium?
Hey, i've been reading this blog for a while and have a question, maybe you can help… it's how do i add your feed to my rss reader as i want to follow you. Thanks.
This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses. Youve got a design here thats not too flashy, but makes a statement as big as what youre saying. Great job, indeed.
ola galera, com certeza um torpedo web de gra