The Cost Of War

Military Releases High Casualty Figures -- CBS News

The Department of Defense has released its latest American military casualty numbers for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.

As of April 5, a total of 36,082 members of the U.S. military have been wounded in action and killed in Iraq, since the beginning of the war in March 2003, and in Afghanistan, where the war there began in October 2001. The 36,082 number breaks down to 4,492 deaths and 31,590 wounded. According to the same DoD "casualty" counts, an additional 38,631 U.S. military personnel have also been removed from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan for "non-hostile-related medical air transports."

Read more ....

My Comment: Gateway Pundit provides a perspective to these figures. My own personal take .... when the Iraq war started pundits were talking about a Stalingrad at the Gates Of Baghdad that will result in 15,000 U.S. servicemen dead and untold thousands wounded. This fortunately never happened. But a long drawn affair that will result in the drip drip of American and Iraqi casualties for the next 5, 10, or 20 years is also in no one's interest.

Unfortunately, I can easily foresee a situation evolving in Iraq that will be similar to the long drawn affair of IRA terrorism and rebellion that lasted in Ireland for decades. At its peak the IRA had almost 300 men under arms .... but these 300 men were effective in holding down a good portion of the British Army for decades.

In Iraq, it is obvious that there are more than 300 men willing to fight against the Iraqi Government and coalition forces.

War Updates In Afghanistan -- April 16, 2008

Attacks Kill 11 Afghan Cops, 2 NATO Troops -- CBS News

Volunteer Is Oldest Serviceman To Die In Afghanistan -- Times Online

Afghan Prison Under Red Cross Scrutiny -- MSNBC

Afghan Opposition Says It's Been Talking To Taliban -- Yahoo News

Nato Making Mistake In Afghanistan, Warns Turkish Minister -- The Telegraph

My Comment: This war is going to go on for a long time.

The Crisis In Zimbabwe Continues

Victims Tell Of Torture And Murder In Robert Mugabe's 'Disloyal' Strongholds -- Times Online

Zimbabwe Doctors Say 157 Beaten In Post-Election Violence -- Yahoo News

Tsvangirai Sets Terms For Run-Off -- The Guardian

ANC Hits Out At 'Dire' Zimbabwe Situation -- The Guardian

ANC Breaks With Mbeki To Condemn 'Evident' Crisis In Zimbabwe -- The Independnet

Zimbabwe Opposition Lacks Leverage -- Time Magazine

Zimbabwe Court Rejects Petition For Vote Results -- MSNBC

Zimbabwe's Top Court Won't Release Results -- CBS News

Zimbabwe Strike Flops -- Swiss Info

Police Arrest 36 People In Troubled Zimbabwe -- ABC News

'Arrests' After Zimbabwe Strike -- BBC News

Robert Mugabe's Terror Victims Tell Of Beatings -- The Telegraph

Gordon Brown Ignores Mbeki Snub To Declare That Mugabe Has Lost Election -- Times Online

No One Thinks Mugabe Won Election, Brown Tells UN -- The Guardian

My Comment: I remember 10, 20, 25 years ago when many in the main stream media were talking about the new Africa and how leaders such as Mugabe would transform the continent into a golden age of freedom and prosperity.

I wonder where these reporters are now?

Gang Violence Threatens Fragile Peace In Kenya

A Collection Of News Stories:

Gang Terrorizes Nairobi With Threat To Kill Minibus Drivers And Commuters -- International Herald Tribune

Twelve Die In Kenya Violence After Gang Boss's Wife Is Killed -- The Independent

Can Kenyan Power-Sharing Plan Work? -- Time Magazine

My Comment: This country was once known as the most progressive state in Africa.

Iraq War News Updates -- April 15, 2008

US Troops Plan To Stay Put In Baghdad's Sadr City: General -- Yahoo News

Iraq Bombings, Clashes Kill 62 -- Yahoo News

Al-Qaida Leader In Iraq Urges Sunni Fighters Who Joined Americans To Come Back -- International Herald Tribune

Roadside Bomb Targets U.S. Convoy In Baghdad -- International Herald Tribune

Iraqi Government: "We Will Continue Until We Secure Sadr City" -- Long War Journal

Iraq Dismisses 1,300 After Basra Offensive -- New York Times

Iraq’s Moment of Truth in Baghdad and Basra -- Pajamas Media

Thoughts On The Fighting In Basra -- Captains Journal

Iraq Winning War In Mahdi Army -- Strata Sphere

Cleric Sadr Key Player In Helping Poor Iraqis: Report -- Reuters

Iraqis Aren’t Stupid — And They’re Watching Us -- Hot Air

Hope for Iraq's Meanest City -- Winds Of Change

When Sons Of Iraq Grow Up -- Long War Journal

My Comment: As the U.S. Presidential election approaches, expect more terrorism attacks against civilians and coalition forces.

Lack Of Water And Food -- Two Issues That Have Sparked A Number Of Past Wars And Conflicts Are Making A Comback

From CNN -- Riots, Instability Spread As Food Prices Skyrocket

(CNN) -- Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday.

"This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute.

"The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."

Read more ....

My Comment: When I was growing up I learned about mass starvation from my parents. My father grew up in the Ukraine duirng the famine of 1932-1933, and my mother experienced the Second World War in Nazi occupied Russia. Hunger and war have always walked hand in hand, with both "feeding" each other.

Our hunger for energy in the form of bio-fuels may in fact produce a disaster that we are not prepared to acknowledge.

Update: Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years -- Yahoo Finance

2nd Update: Food Riots Lead to Haitian Meltdown -- Time Magazine

3rd Update: Maybe I should not be so pessimistic -- As Other Staples Soar, Potatoes Break New Ground (Reuters)

4th Update: The Real Crisis Is Global Hunger. -- The Guardian

Updates On The War In Afghanistan And Pakistan

A must read piece from Strata-Sphere:

Some interesting news on the war front in Pakistan and Afghanistan. One piece that caught my eye was an LA Times article that claims this is the year to finally get Bin Laden. It notes the drop in support for al-Qaeda and their ilk in Pakistan and Afghanistan as the key change that could expose Bin Laden:

This welcome change in probabilities has almost nothing to do with the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism strategy, which remains rudderless and starved of resources because of the war in Iraq. It is a consequence, instead, of dramatic political changes in Pakistan, where Bin Laden is believed to be hiding and where Al Qaeda’s local mistakes and the restoration of civilian democracy have combined to make him considerably less safe.

Read more ....

My Comment: For the West to succeed in this part of the world, we will require the assistance and support of our allies in the region. NATO is not capable to finish this job (Captain's Journal gives a perfect example of why). Failure of our allies will then open a Pandora's box of more involvement of NATO and U.S. forces .... a situation that all parties clearly do not want.

Having said all of this, Strata-Sphere's article does give a bit of hope that everything in this part of the world is not that bleak.

Update: Afghans and Pakistanis "squeezing" Taliban and al Qaeda -- Yahoo News

US And Iran Holding 'Secret' Talks On Nuclear Programme

From The Independent:

Iran and the United States have been engaged in secret "back channel" discussions for the past five years on Iran's nuclear programme and the broader relationship between the two sworn enemies, The Independent can reveal.

One of the participants, former senior US diplomat Thomas Pickering, explained that a group of former American diplomats and experts had been meeting with Iranian academics and policy advisers "in a lot of different places, although not in the US or Iran".

Read more ....

My Comment: The Independent (from my point of view) does not have a good track record when it comes to Middle East issues. This article does not change my point of view. Unofficial meetings with retired diplomats talking in out of the way places .... this is not a serious discussion nor change in direction from the Iranian regime.

When I was in the Middle East last month, the overwhelming sentiment from (Arab) government officials to the man on the street was what will the mad mullahs in Tehran do next.
Their interference in Iraq, their support of Shiite terror groups, and their open hostility and contempt of the West .... this is their clear and stated policy. The mass majority of citizens in this part of the world know this .... the Independent Newspaper clearly has a different point of view.

Why is the Independent Newspaper pushing this story. I personally believe that there are two reasons why. (1) Some minor and junior people are talking to each other, but have no direct relationship or influence on the policy makers that count. (2) To give cover to former President Carter's meeting with Hamas.

In my own personal opinion, there is going to be no change in Iranian policy until after the American Presidential election. They are hoping for a Barak Obama / Democratic win, and are adopting a wait and see altitude on Obama's promise for opening talks with the Iranian regime if he is elected President.

Update: IAEA, Iran Meeting Abruptly Canceled -- Yahoo News

The Past Two Months

It is a joy to be back home. For the past two months I have had the opportunity to be overseas (Asia and the Middle East) and witness first hand the explosive growth and development that is occurring.

When I was in China 20 years ago, I saw a struggling society trying its best to escape a poverty that you can only imagine. After working very hard for much of the day, their entertainment came in the form of watching Dallas reruns on TV and enjoying walks with the family before the sun sets.

Todays China is completely different. Dallas reruns are no longer played .... Chinese equivalents are now the main course on National TV. And while the majority of the country do work 60 - 70 hour weeks, a rising middle class is now changing the political and economic dynamics.

These observations also hold for India and the Arabian Peninsula. They are now rushing to live the 21rst century experience. They have the manpower, the educational and professional back-up, and the political will to proceed.

The impact that this revolution .... (a revolution with no parallel in human history) .... will have on the many wars that are prevalent in this world is something that I am still trying to understand. In the next few weeks I will be trying my best to decipher what I was able to see and extrapolate them to our present day conflicts.

We do live in interesting times.

Will Resume Blogging Monday, April 14, 2008

I finally have returned from overseas. Taking a well deserved vacation. Will be back on April 14, 2008