August the Deadliest Month in Afghanistan War

With just more than a week until the 10th anniversary of September 11, a new report was released on Monday saying that August was the deadliest month for the U.S. in the long war in Afghanistan.

Since the start of the month, 66 American troops stationed in Afghanistan have been killed, which makes this the most deadly month since fighting in the country began following the World Trade Center attacks, according to news releases posted on the Department of Defense’s website in August.

The second-worst month in the ten-year-long war was in July 2010, when 65 U.S. service members were killed, according to The Associated Press, which first reported on the casualties in August.

Thirty soldiers, who were mostly Navy SEALs, died after a helicopter was shot down in eastern Wardak province on Aug. 8, making it the single-worst incident in the conflict. The Taliban claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled-grenade at the Chinook helicopter transporting the troops.

There have been increased fighting and attacks in Afghanistan during 2011 even though President Barack Obama two months ago called for withdrawing troops out of the country by the end of 2014. By the end of this year, around 10,000 coalition forces are slated to exit the country and by the end of next year, another 23,000 are to be withdrawn.

Another 23 service members were killed in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmland provinces, which are located near the Pakistan border. The U.S. and the Afghanistan government deployed extra troops to the region to deal with insurgents.

Another 13 were killed in the eastern portion of the country.

More than 400 International Security Force Force soldiers were killed in Afghanistan this year, according to the monitoring website icasualties.org. The coalition includes Americans. However, the website says that only 65 American troops were killed in August.

Military officials, before the summer began, said that there would likely be an increase in violence over the summer as it is traditionally the time when the Taliban ramps up its attacks due to favorable weather conditions.

Many high-level Afghani politicians, including President Hamid Karzai’s brother Ahmed, were killed over the summer. Also, a lawmaker from Uruzgan, and a senior adviser were killed after Taliban militants stormed a house in Kabul.

The increase in troop deaths and assassinations illustrates the instability facing the country as coalition forces attempt to draw their forces down. The goal is to focus on training the Afghan army so that they can keep the country stable.

Obama notes decade of war

In a speech delivered on Tuesday in Minneapolis, Obama reassured troops and vowed to give support for veterans. Obama also hailed this decade’s generation of soldiers, who he dubbed the “9/11 generation,” who have lost their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“For our troops and military families who’ve sacrificed so much, this means relief from an unrelenting decade of operations. Today, fewer of our sons and daughters are serving in harm’s way,” he said.

And despite the U.S. continuously being at war for the past decade, the “military is the best that it’s ever been” and despite the economic downturn, the White House “will not balance the budget on the backs of our veterans,” Obama added.

Obama acknowledged the importance of the Navy SEAL assault in May that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but said the reduction of troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan in the coming years signifies a “relief from an unrelenting decade of operations.”