On September 19

On this day in ...
... 2001 (10 years ago today), The New York Times reported:

President Bush ordered heavy bombers and other aircraft to within easy striking distance of Afghanistan today and insisted that its ruling Taliban turn over Osama bin Laden and other suspected leaders of a terrorist organization believed to be behind last week's attacks in New York and Washington.

Thus began a post-9/11 counterassault on then-Taliban-controlled-Afghanistan that, as we've frequently recounted, continues to this day, notwithstanding the passage of a decade, the change in U.S. administrations (prior posts), and the killing of bin Laden (prior posts). (map credit)

(Prior September 19 posts are here, here, here, and here.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) It has been 11 weeks since, as we then posted, the United States and other countries intervened militarily against the government of Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya. Intervention continues, albeit now under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Having earlier this week extended its mission for another 3 months, NATO appears to have stepped up its attacks on Tripoli. And a permanent member that had abstained from voting on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 -- Russia -- now has joined a chorus calling for Qaddafi to go.
In Geneva tomorrow, discussion is scheduled of the report that the 3-member Libya inquiry commission (prior post) released last week and available here. The commission, appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, found the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by government and rebel troops alike.
Casualty numbers in this conflict are hard to come by. Best estimate found is a month old: from 2,000 to 10,000 persons killed between March 2 and May 3. (credit for above right Associated Press photo, by Darko Bandic, of a woman who attended a "funeral for nine of 11 clerics allegedly killed in a NATO airstrike in Tripoli" on May 14)
► As for Afghanistan, conflict now is nearing its 10th anniversary. May was the deadliest month for servicemembers in Afghanistan this year. Meanwhile, civilian deaths continue to provoke complaint. Last Tuesday -- days after "a weekend airstrike in Helmand province that Afghan officials said killed 14 civilians, 11 of them children" -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai insisted

'that NATO refrain from airstrikes on residential compounds, marking a sharp escalation in his long-running feud with Western commanders over the issue of civilian casualties.'

Yesterday, Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, envisioned negotiations; that is, he said

there could be political talks with the Afghan Taliban by the end of this year if NATO made more military advances and put pressure on the insurgents.

(credit for 2008 Associated Press photo above left, by Alauddin Khan, of funeral of victim of suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan)
The U.S. Department of Defense reports that in Afghanistan, coalition military casualties stand at 1,605 Americans, 369 Britons, and 535 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 100, 9, and 28 casualties, respectively, in the last 11 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,509 service women and men.
► Drone attacks continue on both sides of the AfPak line. Save for occasional announcements like that yesterday respecting the drone-attack killing of an al Qaeda leader in Pakistan, no casualty figures available respecting that side of the border.
► Iraq Body Count reports that between 101,121 and 110,454 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. That represents an increase of between 1,070 and 1,136 persons in the last 11 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,454 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 14 servicemember deaths in the last 11 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) The United States, France, and other countries intervened militarily against Libya's government yesterday -- the 8th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Participation by France (under President Nicolas Sarkozy) departed from the earlier script, when France (under President Jacques Chirac) vocally opposed intervention and so thwarted the United States' bid for U.N. Security Council authorization.
This time around, France pushed earlier and hard for a Security Council resolution. Some officials in the United States initially resisted. But as predicted nearly a month ago by our Opinio Juris colleague Chris Borgen, a tweet heard 'round the world (below center, by Anne-Marie Slaughter, who just finished a 2-year stint as the head of policy planning at the State Department) seemed to set the stage for support by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and, eventually, President Barack Obama.


Five of the 15 Security Council states, including China, Russia, and Germany, abstained from Resolution 1973, which was billed as a no-fly resolution during early negotiations, yet included this paragraph authorizing greater intervention:

Protection of civilians
4. Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 (2011), to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory, and requests the Member States concerned to inform the Secretary-General immediately of the measures they take pursuant to the authorization conferred by this paragraph which shall be immediately reported to the Security Council; ....

Hence yesterday's Tomahawk strikes on Libyan air defense systems. Hence, too, today's complaint from an advocate of the no-fly zone -- the leader of the Arab League said "the use of force was excessive following an overnight bombing campaign that Libya claims killed at least 48 people."
The Security Council-endorsed actions are taking place in the name of civilians. A noble cause, yet one without end. If Libya, why not other countries whose governments harm their own people? To name one, why not Côte d'Ivoire, site of tragic deaths amid months-long post-election violence?
As made explicit in the preamble to Resolution 1973, the Security Council resolved to act in the name of the fledgling doctrine of responsibility to protect. The Council's choice of Libya, to the exclusion of other global trouble spots, exposes once again the unsettling selection bias inherent in current conceptualizations of that doctrine.
Unsettling too is the notion of a 3d (or 4th, depending on how one counts AfPak) armed conflict in which the United States is engaged -- and in which civilian deaths are likely to occur even in the course of efforts to protect civilians.
While waiting to see what transpires on the Libyan front, it is due time to review casualties since our last post, 16 weeks ago, in the long-running conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
► In Afghanistan, "[t]argeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan doubled" in 2010, according to an annual report recently issued by the United Nations. Specifically, there was "a 15 percent increase in the number of civilians killed to 2,777 -- continuing a steady rise over the past four years" in the nearly decade-old conflict.
The U.S. Department of Defense reports that in Afghanistan, coalition military casualties stand at 1,505 Americans, 360 Britons, and 507 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 89, 15, and 23 casualties, respectively, in the last 16 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,372 service women and men.
► Respecting the Iraq War launched 8 years ago this weekend -- a milestone observed by scattered protests --Iraq Body Count reports that between 100, 051 and 109,318 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. That represents an increase of between 1,030 and 1,224 persons since 16 weeks ago. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,440 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 11 servicemember deaths in the last 16 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) It's been a week for "surprise" visits to conflict zones: U.S. President Barack Obama to Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Iraq's officials, in Baghdad. Can't help but wonder the degree to which recent leaks about attitudes toward world leaders prompted the face time.
Also worth pondering is the image at left. Not a poor imitation of Rothko, but rather a color-coded charting of deaths in Iraq. Orange = civilians.

With that in mind, here's the casualty count since our last such post 6 weeks ago:
► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,416 Americans, 345 Britons, and 484 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 68, 4, and 5 casualties, respectively, in the last 6 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,245 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 99,021 and 108,094 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. That represents an increase of between 436 and 500 persons since 6 weeks ago. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,429 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 3 servicemember deaths in the last 6 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

... and counting ....

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) This weekend's big news regarding U.S. involvement in armed conflicts is, of course, the release by WikiLeaks of 400,000 pages of Iraq War documents. News outlets such as The New York Times (here) and Le Monde (here) have devoted considerable space to this disclosure, even as other reporters, groups, and private individuals sift through the documents available here.

One disclosure bears particular relevance to this "...and counting..." feature, which we've posted periodically since our founding. An Associated Press story reports that the documents reveal far more U.S. military attention to civilian cases a few years back than was admitted at the time.

Revealed, according to the AP:

[A] higher death toll than previously believed.
Iraq Body Count, a private British-based group that has tracked the number of Iraqi civilians killed since the war started in March 2003, said it had analyzed the information and found 15,000 previously unreported deaths. That would raise its total from as many as 107,369 civilians to more than 122,000 civilians.

The article then quotes Jameel Jaffer (prior post) of the American Civil Liberties Union:

'The American public has a right to know the full human cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A lot of this information should have been released to the public a long time ago.'

With these developments in mind, here's our count since our last such post 5 weeks ago:
► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,348 Americans, 341 Britons, and 479 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 68, 6, and 16 casualties, respectively, in the last 5 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,168 service women and men.

► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 98,585 and 107,594 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. (But see story quoted above.) That represents an increase of between 591 and 640 persons since 5 weeks ago. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,426 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 5 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) Perhaps the most poignant story to appear since our last post on casualties came out of Baghdad, where, active hostilities having subsided, survivors of the Iraq War are going through the painful process of finding lost loved ones -- identifying them via morgue photos made years ago.
After telling of one sad moment of recognition, New York Times writer Anthony Shadid continued:

On the charts that the American military provides, those numbers are seen as success, from nearly 4,000 dead in one month in 2006 to the few hundred today. The Interior Ministry offers its own toll of war — 72,124 since 2003, a number too precise to be true.

Shadid added that "even sober estimates suggest ... 100,000 or more" dead -- an estimate consistent with our own count below.

For the family chronicled in Shadid's story, identification enabled a visit to pay respects at a grave bearing a number but no name. It is an ending-of-conflict journey that many family members have yet to make:

At the morgue, more than 20,000 of the dead ... are still unidentified.

Another potential indicator of transition: news of a possible power-sharing deal that would allow a government to form in Iraq, where, the U.S. military has ended its combat mission and assumed a mission of assisting local security forces. (Prior IntLawGrrls post.)

Matters are rather different in Afghanistan.

In that country, the United States and other NATO forces continue in a combat role, and U.S.-led drone attacks along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have surged.

This weekend, Afghans went to the polls to elect members of the national parliament. Balloting was marred by incidents of violence, the absence of voters, and allegations of electoral fraud:

At least 10 people were killed, scores of polling stations were attacked and hundreds of them apparently never opened.
Even where there was no shooting, turnout appeared to be unusually light. Many polling centers were largely empty for most of the day, in sharp contrast with presidential elections a year ago, where voters waited in long lines to vote. And where there was voting, there were numerous reports of fraud, from vote-buying to ballot-stuffing.

Afghan governmental officials endeavored to spin this news in a positive direction by noting that "in most places" there was no "major incident."

With these developments in mind, here's our count since our last such post 5 weeks ago:

► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,280 Americans, 335 Britons, and 463 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 54, 4, and 29 casualties, respectively, in the last 5 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,078 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 97,994 and 106,954 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. That represents an increase of at the low end, a decrease of 17 at the high end reported on that website 5 weeks ago. That latter discrepancy underscores a point in the Shadid article quoted above: Iraq civilian-casualty numbers inevitably are imprecise. Still, the consistency between the Iraq Body Count numbers and the estimates of others serves to convey the magnitude of the loss.

According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,421 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 7 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) Old-new news: civilian casualties in Afghanistan spiked 31% between January and June, compared with the same 6 months in 2009. So said the human rights section of UNAMA, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, in a midyear report released Tuesday.
Counted were 1,271 persons killed and another 1,997 injured, for a total of 3,268 civilian casualties in the 1st 6 months of this year.
Reason for the increase, according to the report?
"A rise in insurgent attacks"; to be specific, 2,477, or 76%, of casualties (53% more than in 2009) were attributed to "anti-government elements," compared with 386, or 12% (30% less than in 2009), to "pro-government forces."
Meanwhile, in Iraq,the U.S. military made ready for a September 1 renaming of its mission -- to Operation New Dawn. The move away from the longtime standard, Operation Iraqi Freedom, is supposed to reflect continued implementation of the troop-withdrawal plan. Yet speculation continues on whether the United States will, as agreed, move toward "no U.S. troops in Iraq at all by December 31, 2011."
With these developments in mind, here's our count since our last such post 7 weeks ago:
► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,226 Americans, 331 Britons, and 434 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 85, 23, and 9 casualties, respectively, in the last 7 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,002 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 97,196 and 106,971 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 383 and 508 deaths in the last 7 weeks.According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,414 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 6 servicemember deaths in the last 7 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting....

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) It's been fully 14 weeks since we last took account of the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The headline news this past week, of course, has been President Barack Obama's firing of U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal from command of forces in Afghanistan. The Oval Office dismissal came days after the online publication of spoken, and gestured, criticisms by McChrystal and his staff, the crudeness of which reads as a juvenile and downright dumb effort by military brass to out-Rolling Stone the Rolling Stone. (Perhaps if they'd seen the Gaga cover that would cloak the McChrystal story, they'd have known the futility of any such effort.)
Also seizing headlines was Obama's in-an-instant replacement of McChrystal with Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.
But neither seems the real story.
More likely, the real story is Obama's insistence that no change in war-waging policy would accompany the change in war-waging generals:

We are going to break the Taliban's momentum. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on al-Qaida and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same.

Whether that's in fact the last word on policy remains to be seen.
On her 1st day in office Friday, Julia Gillard, the new Prime Minister of Australia, assured Obama in a phone conversation that "supports the war in Afghanistan and he can rely on her to continue the commitment of troops." (credit for 2009 photo of Gillard, then Deputy Prime Minister, visiting Australian troops in Iraq shortly before their withdrawal from that country)
Yet in the country contributing the most troops after the United States to the NATO effort in Afghanistan, the news of the week was the 300th British servicemember death there. Not surprisingly, yesterday the new Prime Minister, David Cameron, sounded a rather more measured tone after meeting with Obama on the 1st day of this week's G-20 summit in Toronto. Cameron said:

Making progress this year, putting everything we have into getting it right this year is vitally important.

Criticism of the tactics of the AfPak war also persist, as was evident in the attention paid the public defense of targeted-killing-by-drones, delivered in March by State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh. Four persons were killed in a drone raid yesterday, another 13 last week; "Pakistani officials have told the BBC that the US have carried out at least 70 such raids since January."
Also of concern, the continued spike in civilian deaths, a trend that Obama's promised to work to reverse:

Figures from the Pentagon show 90 civilians were killed by American or NATO forces in the first four months of this year, compared with 51 in the same period last year ...

As for Iraq?
Far less news. About a hundred persons killed by car bombs in May, on the "bloodiest day this year." More recently, reports of scattered violence "as," to quote The New York Times, "as the country’s political stalemate dragged on."
With these developments in mind, we revisit the casualty count since our last "...and counting..." post 6 weeks ago:
► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,141 Americans, 308 Britons, and 425 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 117, 43, and 32 casualties, respectively, in the last 14 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 1,874 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 96,813 and 105,563 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 1,089 and 1,136 deaths in the last 14 weeks.
According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,408 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 23 servicemember deaths in the last 14 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) The U.N. Security Council has begun debate on whether to renew the mandate of UNAMA, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan; it's set to expire this Tuesday.
Debate started with the presentation of the latest report of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon respecting Afghanistan. The presenter, Alain Le Roy (below left), Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Council:

'Concrete steps must be taken by the international community to allow Afghans to be in charge of, and lead, processes while providing the capacity-building and support required for Afghan institutions to take on this role, including in civilian areas.
'At the same time, the Afghan Government must concretely demonstrate that it can deliver on the accountability required for a real transition process to be sustainable.'

No doubt hindering efforts is the Dutch decision to pull out of the NATO coalition in Afghanistan. That withdrawal has the United States thinking about looking for help outside NATO, according to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michèle A. Flournoy (below right).

A story just published in Newsweek, moreover, contends that the idea of Afghanistan taking over is a pipe dream -- that $6 billion that's gone to training Afghan police to take over for coalition forces was money not well-spent.

In Washington, meanwhile, "thousands" protested U.S. intervention yesterday, not only in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq. The 7th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was Friday.

With those developments in mind, we revisit the casualty count since our last "...and counting..." post 6 weeks ago:

► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,024 Americans, 275 Britons, and 393 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 34, 17, and 2 casualties, respectively, in the last 6 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 1,692 service women and men.

► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 95,724 and 104,427 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 409 and 430 deaths in the last 6 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,385 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 9 servicemember deaths in the last 6 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) It's been nearly 11 weeks since our last "...and counting..." post reported on President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Deployment done, this Presidents' Day brings news of NATO's "biggest Afghan offensive yet" against Taliban forces, a description echoed in Canada, Britain, and the United States.
Days before the operation dubbed "Mushtarak," or "Together," began, London's Independent reported:

The offensive is expected to see heavy casualties on both sides, with civilian casualties "inevitable".

The truth of the prediction was evident in early headlines from the field of a battle that combat leaders say may last 30 days: "NATO says its rockets killed 12 Afghan civilians," and "Two Allied Deaths in Marjah Highlight Risks."

Though those numbers doubtless are not yet included in official records, it seems appropriate to revisit the casualty count since our last post:
► According to ¶ 19 of the January 4, 2010, Report of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Security Council, entitled "The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security,"

UNAMA recorded 784 conflict-related civilian casualties between August and October 2009, up 12 per cent from the same period in 2008. Anti-Government elements remain responsible for the largest proportion of civilian casualties (78 per cent of the total), of whom 54 per cent were victims of suicide and improvised explosive device attacks. The increased reliance of anti-Government elements on improvised explosive device attacks has demonstrated an apparent disregard for the loss of civilian life. However, it is encouraging to see that certain positive steps have continued to be taken by the Government and its international military partners to reduce the impact of military operations on the civilian population.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 990 Americans, 258 Britons, and 391 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 61, 22, and 24 casualties, respectively, in the last 11 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 1,639 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 95,315 and 103,997 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 983 and 1,065 deaths in the last 11 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,376 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 9 servicemember deaths in the last 11 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) In last night's speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, President Barack Obama (below left) confirmed that he is deploying an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, to bring the total complement of U.S. service women and men there to 100,000. (photo credit) (Transcript and video of the President's speech available here.) Though he said he would begin drawing down that force in 18 months, he set no timetable for full U.S. withdrawal from the region -- a deliberate word choice, given Obama's clear statement that the conflict extends to Pakistan as well as to Afghanistan.
Other new deployments to Afghanistan are likely soon to be announced in other countries, given the following immediate-reaction statement from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and current Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization:

This is not a U.S. mission alone. There are 43 countries on the ground under NATO command and I am confident that other allies and partners will also make a substantial increase in their contributions.

It thus seems time to readjust IntLawGrrls' longstanding "...and counting..." feature.

Afghanistan now will receive primary focus, a shift illustrated in today's introduction of the photo of an Afghan funeral above right (credit), which replaces the Iraqi photo we long have used. And though counts on Pakistan are not readily available, news from that theater of combat will be included as appropriate. In the absence of any Afghanistan-related site like Iraq Body Count, available civilian casualty figures from UNAMA, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, will be provided.

And so, here's the casualty count since our post 5 weeks ago:

► According to ¶ 54 of the September 22, 2009, Report of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Security Council, entitled "The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security," UNAMA

recorded 1,500 civilian casualties between January and August, with August being the deadliest month since the beginning of 2009. These figures reflect an increasing trend in insecurity over recent months and in elections-related violence. Almost three times as many civilian deaths (68 per cent) were attributed to anti-Government elements activities than to pro-Government forces (23 per cent). As detailed in the UNAMA mid-year bulletin on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the most deadly tactics used and which accounted for the largest number of
civilian casualties in the conflict to date were attributable to planted improvised explosive devices, and suicide attacks carried out by anti-Government elements accounted for 39.5 per cent of fatalities. Air strikes by pro-Government forces accounted for 20 per cent of fatalities.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 929 Americans, 236 Britons, and 367 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 43, 14, and 6 casualties, respectively, in the last 5 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 1,532 service women and men.

► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 94,332 and 102,932 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 760 and 836 deaths in the last 5 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,367 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 16 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

...and counting...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) Recent news has focused on Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's incumbent President, who acceded to a November 7 runoff to decide an election contest tainted by charges of massive vote fraud in the 1st round, held back in August. Karzai's opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, "is considering boycotting the upcoming runoff if his demands are not met to remove the leaders of Afghanistan's election commission who he believes are biased against him," according to the latest Washington Post dispatch. Hinging on this controversy is not only the political future of Afghanistan, but also the next move respecting troops from the United States and the NATO coalition it has forged in Afghanistan.
Also in the news was Pakistan, where more than 100,000 civilians have been fleeing government counterattacks on militant strongholds, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Co. report.
Yesterday, though, it was Iraq that reclaimed the headlines: "Iraq Ministries Targeted in Car Bombings; Over 130 Dead," wrote The New York Times. The story's 1st paragraphs elaborated on this "deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq since the summer of 2007":

For the second time in two months, two synchronized suicide car bombings struck at the heart of the Iraqi government, severely damaging the Justice Ministry and provincial council complexes in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 132 people and raising new questions about the government’s ability to secure its most vital operations.
The bombers apparently passed through multiple security checkpoints before detonating their vehicles within a minute of each other, leaving the dead and more than 520 wounded strewn across crowded downtown streets.

With this grim reminder that conflict continues on multiple fronts, here's the casualty count since our post 6 weeks ago:
► Iraq Body Count reports that between 93,571 and 102,096 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 (tallies most likely not including yesterday's death toll), representing an increase of between 490 and 518 deaths in the last 6 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,351 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 8 servicemember deaths in the last 6 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)
► Respecting the conflict in Afghanistan, our DoD websource appears to be using a new counting method. It reports that military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 886 Americans, 222 Britons, and 361 other coalition servicemembers. The site includes a number of new charts, including places where death occurred "in and around Afghanistan," deaths from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and the pie chart above, which depicted countries from which fallen servicemembers hailed. The total servicemember casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 1,469.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) (below left) said this yesterday about the ongoing NATO role in Afghanistan:

'My view is that the mission has to be very clear. I believe it is not now. ... I don’t believe we can build a democratic state in Afghanistan. I believe it will remain a tribal entity.'

Not encouraging words from the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. But not much of a surprise, either, given recent news from that Central Asian country:

► An airstrike 10 days ago is said to have killed as many as 90 persons near Kunduz, and though it is hard to say how many were "militants," it is known that among the injured was a 10-year-old boy. NATO is investigating the decision to strike of German troops, who place the death toll closer to 50. In Berlin yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel (below right) promised "full clarification," "and expressed regret for possible civilian casualties, stating as parliament renewed debate regarding Germany's ongoing involvement:

'Every innocent person who is killed in Afghanistan is one too many.'

► Just this weekend, Afghanistan endured "a wave of bombings, ambushes and killings" that left 39 civilians and 5 U.S. troops dead.

► The passage of 3 weeks since voting for President has yet to yield a winner, and tarnishing indications that incumbent, Hamid Karzai, will be the likely winner is a "chaotic count ... marred by allegations of widespread irregularities including phantom polling stations and stuffed ballot boxes."
As for Iraq, scattered violence persists even as the United States continues its plan to withdraw combat troops before next summer comes to an end.

With all this in mind, here's the casualty count since our post 6 weeks ago:

► Iraq Body Count reports that between 93,081 and 101,578 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 562 and 572 deaths in the last 6 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,343 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 15 servicemember deaths in the last 6 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

► Respecting the conflict in Afghanistan, military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 830 Americans and 55 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 67 and 37, respectively, in the last 6 weeks, and a total servicemember casualty count of 1,384.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) News of civilian casualties in Afghanistan continues. In its Mid-Year Bulletin on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan, the Human Rights Unit of UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, announced that more than 1,000 civilians died between January and June 2009, 24 percent above the number for the same 6 months of 2008. The report faulted both sides of the conflict, which pits forces allied with the government of Afghanistan, including many thousands of NATO troops, against Taliban and other forces opposed to the government; however, it attributed the greater proportion of civilian deaths to the latter side.
The report provoked this comment from Navanethem Pillay (below right), the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights:

'All parties involved in this conflict should take all measures to protect civilians, and to ensure the independent investigation of all civilian casualties, as well as justice and remedies for the victims.'

Violence has been high among troops in Afghanistan as well: the just-ended month of July was the deadliest for U.S. troops since the war began in fall 2001. The Pentagon is said to be "preparing a new strategy that calls for major changes," among them "a vast increase in the size of Afghan security forces and an intensified military effort to root out corruption among local government officials," plus "an increase in American troops to implement the new strategy."
Meanwhile, in Iraq, U.S. troops now comprise "'coalition of one,'" down from the 37 countries who went with the United States to war against the regime of then-President Saddam Hussein. Bloodshed continues, although at a pace far slower than in the past, and U.S. military leaders look toward a political solution to problems in post-Saddam Iraq.
With that news in mind, here's the casualty count in the 5 weeks since our last post:

► Iraq Body Count reports that between 92,519 and 101,006 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 126 and 138 deaths in the last 5 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,328 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq. Total coalition fatalities: 4,646 persons. That's 14 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks, all of them Americans.
► As for the conflict in Afghanistan, military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 763 Americans and 517 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 51 and 31, respectively, in the last 5 weeks, and a total servicemember casualty count of 1,280.
Finally:
A moment in recognition of last month's passing of newsman Walter Cronkite (above left). The body count that he reported week after week during the Vietnam War made a lasting memory; indeed, it was the inspiration for this most sobering IntLawGrrls feature.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) With:
► bombings and other lethal violence on the increase in Iraq as the deadline nears for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the cities pursuant to a pact about which we've posted, and
► continuing concerns over civilian casualties in Afghanistan has just led the United States to restrict aerial strikes there,
here's the casualty count in the 5 weeks since our last post: Iraq Body Count reports that between 92,393 and 100,868 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 463 and 503 deaths in the last 5 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,314 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq. Total coalition fatalities: 4,632 persons. That's 18 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks. As was the case in our last post, all servicemember casualties in this period were Americans.
As for the conflict in Afghanistan, military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 712 Americans and 486 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 26 and 21, respectively, in the last 5 weeks, and a total servicemember casualty count of 1,198.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) As Memorial Day weekend nears, there is much to remember.
There are the deaths of more than 5,700 service members, from many coalition countries, who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2002, as detailed below.
There are the Iraqi children, women, and men who have died in the conflict since 2003 -- by tally of the Associated Press as well as Iraq Body Count's higher-end estimates, civilian casualties in Iraq now exceed 100,000.
There are the unrecorded numbers of civilians dead in Afghanistan.
By admission of U.S. military officials, civilian casualty rates in Afghanistan are unacceptable: this week Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Admiral Michael G. Mullen (below right) referred to "the aerial bombing this month of a village in western Afghanistan that killed an undetermined number of civilians," and said:

'We cannot succeed in Afghanistan, or anywhere else -- but let's talk specifically about Afghanistan -- by killing Afghan civilians. We can't keep going through incidents like this and expect the strategy to work.'

With those words in mind, here is the casualty count in the 5 weeks since our last post:
Iraq Body Count reports that between 91,930 and 100,365 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 527 and 571deaths in the last 5 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,296 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq. Total coalition fatalities: 4,614 persons. That's 23 servicemember deaths in the last 5 weeks. As was the case in our last post, all servicemember casualties in this period were Americans.
As for the conflict in Afghanistan, military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 686 Americans and 465 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 6 and 12, respectively, in the last 5 weeks, and a total servicemember casualty count of 1,151.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) With news about pirates dominating mainstream media these days -- do check out IntLawGrrl Beth Van Schaack's excellent post on law and piracy -- it seems a good time to reflect on the consequences of more conventional, and lethal, conflicts in which the United States is involved.
Notwithstanding President Barack Obama's stated plan to take 12,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq by September, violence continues apace but political integration drags -- a situation evident in stories this week on the latest suicide bombing and the latest obstacles to establishing local governance structures.
In Afghanistan, meanwhile, some maintain that Pakistan's promise to allow some sharia law imperils Afghans' security -- even as, yesterday, there were protests challenging a new marriage law as a threat to Afghan women's security. (Photo slide show here.) The Associated Press reported from Kabul:

Dozens of young women braved crowds of bearded men screaming 'dogs!' on Wednesday to protest an Afghan law that lets husbands demand sex from their wives. Some of the men picked up small stones and pelted the women. 'Slaves of the Christians!' chanted the 800 or so counter-demonstrators, a mix of men and women. A line of female police officers locked hands to keep the groups apart.

With challenges in these countries well in mind, here is the casualty count in the 8 weeks since our last post:

Iraq Body Count reports that between 91,403 and 99,794 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, representing an increase of between 721 and 777 deaths in the last 8 weeks. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,273 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq. Total coalition fatalities: 4,591 persons. That's 28 servicemember deaths in the last 8 weeks, all of them Americans.

As for the conflict in Afghanistan, military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 678 Americans and 453 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 25 and 27, respectively, in the last 8 weeks, and a total servicemember casualty count of 1,131.