Zero U.S. Troops Died in Combat in March, First Time in a Decade , Think Progress:

[Stuart G]

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/03/31/3421286/zero-combat-deaths/


Zero U.S. Troops Died In Combat In March, The First Time In More Than A Decade


By Hayes Brown
on March 31, 2014 at 4:50 pm


March 2014 marked the first time in more than a decade that there were zero U.S. fatalities among American troops engaging in combat, according to numbers from the Department of Defense.

After a decade at war in the post-9/11 environment, with major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and smaller conflicts in the various other countries where the U.S. uses more covert methods to fight against terrorism, the lack of combat deaths in March 2014 marks a milestone. In Iraq, the death toll reached 4,474 before the last soldier fell in November 2011. For years after the war’s launch in 2003, no months passed where at least one American didn’t die in battle and then only towards the end of the conflict did the numbers taper off enough to have a month where the only fatalities were non-combat related.

Based on information collected at the website iCasualties, which pulls from Pentagon data, it is the first time since July 2007 that no Americans were killed in Afghanistan in support of Operation: Enduring Freedom. The worst single month for U.S. forces in that conflict was July 2010, amid the summer fighting season, during which 65 Americans died. At that point, 98,000 American forces were stationed in Afghanistan amid the surge of 30,000 additional soldiers into the country. To date, 2176 U.S. military personnel have lost their life in Afghanistan.

[MADem]

1. ++++++ It's OBAMA's FAULT!!!!!!!!!! +++++++++

Hey, he gets blamed for everything else....let's "blame" him for some good news, for a change.

[Stuart G]

2. Obama needs this credit too.

Let's stop this "war killing", for a long time..

[MADem]

3. +1! He's a conflict-reducer, and he has been since he took office.

He never gets credit for that, though.

Most foreign governments, and their people, don't give a shit who the President is. They "lump" us just like most Americans don't know the difference between a Mitterand or a Sarkozy or a Hollande. It's all "Fraaaaaance" to those folks.

Obama has to walk a fine line between honoring obligations made by his predecessor - asshole, and moving us in a direction that is more about conflict avoidance/resolution, leading by example, and supporting rather than tearing down efforts on those lines. It makes driving an aircraft carrier feel like skateboarding, that's how tough his job is. He's doing a great job at it, too--and not getting the credit he deserves.

You'd think he'd manage to get a bit more than he does...at least here on this board, at any rate! History will be very good to him, I'm certain.

[Stuart G]

4. We must give Obama credit for this, as well as ACA..

It is an imperfect world..at least some things are much better..
Stuart

[MADem]

5. Obama is in Michigan today, pushing his next issue--minimum wage hike!!!

Damn that "do nothing" Obama!!!!

[Bill USA]

6. fantastic!