Photo: A Marine Corps carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeremy S. Lasher, 27, of Oneida, N.Y., during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, July 25, 2009. According to the Department of Defense, Lasher, died July 23 of wounds suffered while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)


There are regular updates about the numbers of US soldiers killed in the Afghan theater. The latest release states that 677 have been killed, of which 506 were killed in action and 171 in non-hostile action. The rather large number killed in non-hostile action could be the result of accidents, illness, suicide, or homicide. What is less reported are the number of soldiers wounded. To date there have been 1,196 wounded and returned to duty and 2,107 wounded and not returned to duty.

When combined with the rest of Operation Enduring Freedom (mainly Iraq), there have been over 5,000 US soldiers killed, over 18,000 wounded and returned to duty, and nearly 16,000 wounded and not returned to duty.

It is disturbing how little attention or political traction these deaths receive in the US. It is not surprising that many Americans do not care about the large number of Afghan and Pakistani civilians and soldiers being killed, but I still cannot quite understand why there is so little concern about the deaths and injuries of American soldiers in the public sphere, particularly beyond the communities of those who have served or have family members in the conflict. Beyond some token displays of sentimentality, the consequences of war have practically become a private affair in contemporary American society.

Labels: afghanistan, casualties, south asia, us, wounded