Four More US Troops Killed in Our Longest War

US troops are still being killed in an unpopular war in which it is impossible to tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys” and where a large portion of the country’s population supports whatever group is predominant in their village on any given day.  Today (7 October 2013) marks the Afghanistan War’s 12th anniversary and the beginning of its 13th year.  It has replaced the Vietnam War as the longest war in which US troops have fought. 

In much the same way that the US government finally managed to extricate itself from the Vietnam debacle, US troop strength in Afghanistan is being slowing reduced while at the same time while responsibility for the war’s fighting is being handed over to a weak central government.

Fortunately, unlike the Vietnam War, which ended with over 58,000 US military personnel killed and more than 300,000 wounded, Afghanistan has claimed fewer casualties.  There have been 1,575 US military personnel killed and slightly more than 3,400 wounded.  Of course, the war in Afghanistan has not yet ended.

The following table is a comparison of military and civilian casualties from Vietnam and Afghanistan:

The People Affected	Afghanistan War		Vietnam War
	Killed	Wounded	Killed	Wounded
US Military	1,575	3,400	58,168	304,000
Afghan Military	8,587	25,761
Afghan Civilians	8,913	15,863
Vietnamese Military			440,357	499,000
Vietnamese Civilians			587,000	935,000

In contrast to both of these lengthy wars, The US participation in WWII lasted slightly less than four years, yet claimed 400,000 US lives.  Germany lost 3.5 million, Japan 2 million, and the Soviet Union 10 million military personnel killed.  Apparently the length of a war is not directly proportional to the number of casualties that it produces.

When will the next war start?  Where will the next war be?  How many will die?  What will it prove?