The American Quagmire in Afghanistan By the Numbers

By Juan Cole, Informed Comment

27 October 13

umber of US military personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001: 2,150

Number of US service members wounded in Afghanistan badly enough to go to hospital since 2001: 19,415

Current annual cost of keeping a US soldier in Afghanistan: $2.1 million

Number of US troops now in Afghanistan: roughly 51,000

Annual average unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans 2002-2012; 10% (average annual unemployment rate for vets of previous wars: 6.3%)

Afghan civilians killed in political violence or war 2006-2012: 14,728

Amount of money US has spent to rebuild Afghanistan: $100 billion

Proportion of the $100 billion wasted or misspent or stolen or given to militants or not received by intended recipient: 85%

Population of Afghanistan: 30 - 34 million

Amount of US aid since 2001 per person: roughly $3,333

[pdf] Per capita annual income of Afghanistan: $470

Number of Taliban willing to run for elective office while there are US troops in that country: 0

Number of US and allied foreign troops killed by members of supposedly friendly Afghanistan National Army in 2012: 62 . (The number is much less this year [12], but only because joint operations were suspended for a long period).

Number of women allowed by the election commission to run for president of Afghanistan in 2014: 0

Percentage of annual Afghanistan gross domestic product from the opium trade: 25%

Percentage of the remaining 75% of the annual Afghanistan gross domestic product from foreign aid: 97%.