Let's Not Forget Afghanistan

The U.S. military suffered its 101st death in Afghanistan this year when a soldier was killed last week, making it more likely that this year's death toll in Afghanistan will surpass last year's record of 111 soldiers.



The death comes a week after Taliban fighters "mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting," including "a coordinated assault by at least 10 suicide bomber against one of the largest American military bases in the country, and another by about 100 insurgents who killed 10 elite French paratroopers."

A New York Times editorial last week urged a change in strategy in Afghanistan, emphasizing that the war there "is not a sideshow. It is the principal military confrontation between America and NATO and the forces responsible for 9/11 and later deadly terrorist attacks on European soil." The Pentagon has declared its intention to send 12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where troop levels have been hampered by the war in Iraq. In July, Adm. Mike Mullen said, "I don't have troops I can reach for...to send to Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq."