US Soldiers Turn Tide Against Afghanistan IED Casualties

It appears our troops have finally reached a point of success against the IED warfare of insurgents and radicals throughout Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East. 

And while this accomplishment comes as no credit to uncommitted politicians like Senator John Kerry, who once voted for monies and armor for soldiers before he voted against them, it stands as a witness to the ingenuity and determination of our men and women in uniform.

As of right now, U.S. forces in Afghanistan “are averaging about 23 fatalities each month,” which portends a death toll of approximately 276 service men and women in that country this year. And although this number is still excruciatingly painful for the myriad fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, and husbands who will lose one of those 276 persons, it represents an exponential improvement over the death toll in years gone by.

For example, our loss of life in 2009 was 317 persons, 499 in 2010, and 418 in 2011.

Our troops have been helped by an increased use of bomb and IED-sniffing dogs, as well as an increase in “devices to detect roadside bombs as they are being put into place or when they lie buried ahead of U.S. foot patrols and convoys.” These things alone signal that of the projected 276 deaths for 2012, only 120 will be linked to IEDs.

They’ve also benefitted from beating and isolating the Taliban to such a degree that the materials being used for bomb and IED building are now more rudimentary than those used earlier in the war.

It’s important to note that things could be even better if countries like Pakistan would fight terrorism by stopping “the movement of calcium ammonium nitrate, the main bomb precursor used by the Taliban,” out of their country. However, to date, the Pakistanis remain too vindictive over our raid on the Osama bin Laden compound to do anything to help save the lives of more U.S. troops.

God bless our troops, who, despite the machinations of the Democrat Party and Pakistan, have fought to win, and indeed are winning, on this important front in Afghanistan.