Grim Milestone: 5,000 GIs Dead in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars

June 2, 2009 in News by Margaret Griffis 9 comments
Among the six U.S. servicemember deaths so far reported in June, one soldier has become the 5,000th casualty of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Icasualties.org the wars have cost at least 4,308 lives in Iraq and 695 in Afghanistan. The official count from the Department of Defense, however, has the total number of deaths at 4,996 in both military campaigns. The D.O.D. figures often lag slightly behind those reported in the mass media.
These figures include both combat and non-combat deaths, as well as those servicemembers killed outside the main theaters of action. In some cases, however, a servicemember who may have died months or years later of wounds received during service might not be included in official figures. LinkHere
4 U.S. occupation force troops killed in roadside blasts in Afghanistan: Two roadside bombs that struck back-to-back and only miles apart hit two U.S. military vehicles in Afghanistan on Monday, killing four American occupation troops, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

U.S. Marines find Iraq tactics don't work in Afghanistan:

In Iraq, a half-hour firefight was considered a long engagement; here, Marines have fought battles that have lasted as long as eight hours against an enemy whose attacking forces have grown from platoon-size to company-size.