- Since I first reported the loss of over 900 US soldiers
in my report on 01/02/03, the US casualties have risen significantly. However,
to the rest of the world this has not been any mystery, it is only so to
the US public.
-
- As many around the world suspected, US did not expose
their losses in Afghanistan because they wanted to appear invincible as
a military force. The US wanted to envisage their military might as a force
that even the great guerrilla fighters from Afghanistan could not muster
the skills needed to hinder their impeccable military machine. On the contrary,
the truth is that the US military has lost many soldiers. On average, 5
American soldiers a day have been killed. This is not an impressive number
because the Russians have lost more than dozen soldiers a day in Afghanistan,
a number the Chechens also neared in their struggle against the Russian
army. For those that do not know, American commandos are not superior to
that of the Russian Spietnatz Forces, against whom I had the pleasure of
fighting when I was 15.
-
- The point that I am trying to make is to illustrate to
the American public as well as others in doubt of my claims and to illustrate
to them that this number is not a big number. In the mid-1982, a KGB General,
disclosed to an Afghan General that the Soviet Armed Forces had sustained
over 20,000 casualties, wounded and dead. Incidentally, the Soviets invaded
Afghanistan in December 1979. Thus, in a comparable time frame, the American
losses are not as big due to many reasons, one being that they have the
Northern Alliance as their proxy army. Nonetheless, this is not the only
explanation for the small losses of the US since the Soviets had also the
communist regime army, though small, as their proxy force in fighting Afghan
Mujahideen. The other reasons for the small size of the US casualty are
the following:
-
- 1. Heavy reliance on air power
- 2. Using more Special Forces
- 3. Americans are situated in Kabul, Kandahar and Khost
-
- The Soviet Union had close to 200,000 soldiers in Afghanistan
and they were scattered all over the country, hence, this factor made them
more susceptible to the guerrilla attacks by the Mujahideen fighters. Moreover,
the Soviet army also relied on classic frontal assaults, a tactic they
changed after heavy losses. However, after the Soviets employed Special
Forces, they continued losing soldiers, though not as high as when they
employed the tactic of classic military frontal assaults.
-
- The reason for this aforementioned argument is to put
at ease the doubts of those people, who, on the one hand, consider US military,
invincible, and on the other hand, have a complete trust in the US government
and the information it provides them.
-
- According to the latest information, the US has transported
corpses of US soldiers to the Middle East from Kandahar and Bagram Air
bases and from Tashqand, Uzbekistan. According to eyewitness report, 600
US corpses have arrived in Al-Adeed airport in Qatar. The rest of the corpses
have arrived to US bases in Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia. The reason for this
strategy is to send these corpses to the US and indicate that they have
been killed in the war with Iraq. I do not see any other explanation other
than that.
-
- According to various intelligence agencies, the US has
lost over 1200 soldiers in Afghanistan. The Russian intelligence agency
put the figure of dead in the first six months of the war at 373 dead and
585 critically injured. Meanwhile, reports from other intelligence agencies
including Iranian and Indian among others put the number of dead US soldiers
to be over 600 in the first year, and after 18 months, they report the
figure of US losses over 1200 and 1500 critically wounded.
-
- In the beginning of the war, the corpses of US soldiers
were transported to Jacobabad and Dalbudin Air Bases in Pakistan. As one
of many such reports pointed out:
-
- "The Pakistani Frontier Post newspaper alleges that
45 US servicemen were killed on Monday during a land operation near Kandahar.
According to the newspaper's data, 26 killed commandos have been delivered
to the US-leased military base near the Pakistani town of Jacobabad."
(Frontier Post, 11-08-01)
-
- Some of the corpses were transported to the US. These
revelations were made by various sources in the outset of the war. For
example, the IRNA news agency reported on December 2, 2001, that 124 US
corpses were transported from Pakistan to the US:
-
- "The bodies of 124 American troops have been flown
back home in a cargo plane on November 29 [2001], claimed a local daily
here on Sunday."
-
- It continues:
-
- "The 'Pakistan Observer' reported that the troops
were killed during clashes with Taliban fighters when they had landed in
Helmand province to help the ex-governor of Kandahar Gul Agha's Lashkar
fighters against Taliban."
-
- In fact, I am aware of the US losses in Helmand in which
four Apache Helicopters were also shot down.
-
- Similarly, another among many of the reports of the US
losses was reported by UNI on December 3, 2001:
-
- "The bodies of 40 American soldiers, killed in action
against the Taliban militia and the Al Qaeda men in Afghanistan, have been
flown back to the USA from Jacobabad in Sindh province of Pakistan. The
Frontier Post, quoting well informed sources, said today that 40 coffins
containing the bodies of US marines have been flown back to the USA. The
bodies were recovered on Saturday morning. These were then airlifted to
the Dalbindin air base in Baluchistan for onward journey to Jacobabad and
finally back to the USA."
-
- Furthermore, Andrei Sukhozhilov, a reporter associated
with the Institute foe War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) managed to obtain
information from Khanabad Air Base in southern Uzbekistan. He reported:
-
- "Uzbek sources at Khanabad suggest that the real
figures of US casualties are far higher than the Pentagon's official totals."
(IWRP, 12-07-01)
-
- The reporter continues:
-
- "Uzbek army personnel working at the air base said
scores of US casualties have been arriving there. From November 25 to December
2, an Uzbek orderly working with American medical staff said he had witnessed
the arrival of four to five US helicopters - carrying between them 10-15
American casualties - each day."
-
- The report continues:
-
- "An Uzbek pilot spoke of the death last week of
an American soldier who he had become friendly with while he was on the
base. The US serviceman, he said, had died in the attempt to end the prison
riot on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif two weeks ago. "A lot of American
troops died there - it was a real battle, " the pilot said."
-
- The most interesting point is the following quote from
the article in question:
-
- "They say that in October when the Americans began
deploying at the airport, they were gung-ho, telling their Uzbek counterparts
that it would take no more than a month and a half to defeat the Taleban
and al-Qaeda."
-
- However:
-
- "with some US servicemen at Khanabad now resigned
to a long haul.
- Uzbek military staff say frustration at this is noticeable.
They say they have witnessed growing tensions among American troops, often
overhearing arguments and shouting matches."
-
- In fact as late as March 03, 2003 Azzam Publications
reported:
-
- "...four US APCs were also destroyed with all its
occupants after land mines exploded which were laid by Mujahideen units
in the region. These APCs were transported to the region via US helicopters
as the attack commenced. Between four to six US commandos travel in a single
APC."
-
- So, let the records be straight, the US lost over 1200
soldiers in Afghanistan, not in Iraq. However, the families of these soldiers
have been kept in dark. This is the result of the Americans' trust in the
US government.
-
- Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD
- Mdmiraki@ameritech.net
-
- Upcoming Book: Perpetual Death From America
- This book will have details of the US operations and
losses among a wealth of other revelations.
-
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