Is War Really Worth It?

mohandasgandhi:

Is war really worth it?

With the 9 year anniversary of our war in Afghanistan, here are some facts:

• Nearly 6 in 10 Americans oppose the war in Afghanistan, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation study released this week.
• Afghanistan is the world’s 3rd poorest country with a GDP of $27.01 billion.
• There are more private contractors (120,000) than there are troops currently deployed.
• As of June 2010 1,832 total soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. 
• Last fiscal year, 239 soldiers killed themselves, 160 of them active duty.
• 146 soldiers died from high-risk activities, including 74 drug overdoses, and 1,713 soldiers survived suicide attempts, according to an Army report.
• A third of returning troops report mental problems and 18.5 per cent of all returning service members are battling either PTSD or depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation.
• Amputations rose from 47 in 2009 to 77 through Sept. 23 of this year, or an increase of more than 60% - mostly caused by IEDs, according to Army reports.
• A recent Pentagon report said IEDs are now the “the most serious threat” to coalition forces, killing 6,200 allied and Afghan troops in fiscal year 2009, compared with 3,800 in 2008.
• Over the last year the number of child casualties has risen by 55%.
• Nearly 6,000 civilians have died since 2006 and over 2,000 have died this year alone.
• It costs the Pentagon $2 billion per month to support the American troops.
• To date, $1.09 trillion dollars have been allocated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• The death of each Taliban fighter costs between $50-100 million. That’s, at the very least, $1 billion per 20 Taliban fighters.  The best estimate of Taliban killed annually by coalition forces is roughly 2,000.  Killing the estimated 35,000 Taliban fighting the occupation would cost $1.75 trillion.
• The poverty rate in Afghanistan is 36%, unemployment, 35%, and inflation, 30.5%.
• The population’s life expectancy is 44.4 years.

Is it really worth blowing up Afghanistan?

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9 years in, it's time to atone and rethink policy in Afghanistan.

Posted via email from liberalsarecool.com