Attrition: Contrasting Iraq And Afghanistan

U.S. Army soldiers help a provincial mentorship team uncover a weapons cache in Baraki Barak in the Logar province, Afghanistan, March 26, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua LaPere

From Strategy Page:

So far this year, over 70 percent of the casualties in Afghanistan have been caused by suicide and roadside bombs. That's 52 dead and over 200 wounded among the 70,000 U.S. and NATO troops there, in the last three months. In Iraq, roadside bombs never accounted for more than 60 percent of losses. Moreover, Afghanistan remains a less dangerous place than Iraq ever was.

In the last two years, foreign troops in Afghanistan lost about 300-400 dead per 100,000 troops. In Iraq, from 2004-7, the deaths among foreign troops ran at 500-600 per 100,000 per year. Since al Qaeda admitted defeat there two years ago, the U.S. death rate in Iraq has dropped to less than 200 dead per 100,000 troops per year.

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My Comment: Comparing Iraq and Afghanistan .... the cost in real blood.