„Relativ spät im Spiel begannen die Ukrainer, um Rat zu fragen, wohin diese Sache führen würde, und es wurde uns, den Briten und anderen klar, dass Putins Hauptbedingung in einem Anhang zu diesem Dokument, an dem sie arbeiteten, versteckt war. Sie enthielt Beschränkungen für die genauen Arten von Waffensystemen, über die die Ukraine nach der Vereinbarung verfügen durfte, so dass die Ukraine als militärische Macht im Grunde kastriert wäre. Für Russland gab es keine ähnlichen Beschränkungen. Russland wurde nicht verpflichtet, sich zurückzuziehen. Russland wurde nicht verpflichtet, eine Pufferzone an der ukrainischen Grenze einzurichten, und es wurde nicht verlangt, dass seinem Militär, welches der Ukraine gegenüberstand, dieselben Beschränkungen auferlegt werden. Und so begannen die Menschen innerhalb und außerhalb der Ukraine zu fragen, ob dies ein guter Deal sei, und das war der Punkt, an dem er auseinanderfiel.“
Archiv: cost of war
Nuland confirms West told Zelensky to abandon peace deal
“Relatively late in the game the Ukrainians began asking for advice on where this thing was going and it became clear to us, clear to the Brits, clear to others that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin‘s main condition was buried in an annex to this document that they were working on,” she said of the deal being discussed by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Türkiye’s largest city.
The proposed agreement included limits on the kinds of weapons that Kiev could possess, as a result of which Ukraine “would basically be neutered as a military force,” while there were no similar constraints on Russia, the former diplomat explained.
“People inside Ukraine and people outside Ukraine started asking questions about whether this was a good deal and it was at that point that it fell apart,” Nuland said.
Wie das russische Establishment das Ende des Krieges wirklich sieht
In einem wichtigen Punkt war man sich einig: Dass es keinerlei Chance auf eine internationale formale und rechtliche Anerkennung der russischen Annexionen ukrainischen Territoriums gibt und dass Russland nicht darauf drängen wird. Es wurde eingräumt, dass dies nicht nur von der Ukraine und dem Westen abgelehnt würde, sondern auch von China, Indien und Südafrika, die die russische Annexion der Krim im Jahr 2014 nicht anerkannt haben.
Es besteht daher die Hoffnung, dass im Rahmen einer Friedensregelung die Frage des Status dieser Gebiete auf endlose zukünftige Verhandlungen verschoben wird (wie die ukrainische Regierung im März 2022 in Bezug auf die Krim vorschlug), bis sie schließlich von allen vergessen wird. Das Beispiel der (nicht anerkannten, aber praktisch unangefochtenen) Türkischen Republik Nordzypern wurde erwähnt. Das bedeutet, dass die Ukraine nicht öffentlich aufgefordert würde, diese Gebiete „aufzugeben“, sondern lediglich anzuerkennen, dass es unmöglich ist, sie mit Gewalt zurückzuerobern.
To Win, The Ukrainians Must Kill Or Maim 100,000 Russians in 2024
(17.12.2023)
It’s apparent neither Ukraine nor Russia possesses the excess combat power it would need to achieve a major breakthrough that swiftly and radically could alter the course of Russia’s 22-month wider war on Ukraine.
Instead, the ultimate winner might be the country that attrits enough of the enemy’s forces to cause a military-wide collapse.
Lloyd Austin promised at Ramstein meeting that US and other allies will not allow Ukraine to fail
(19.03.2024)
US Secretary of Defenсe Lloyd Austin, opening the Ramstein meeting on Tuesday, promised that the United States will continue to support Ukraine‘s military efforts against Russia. In practice, however, the US Congress continues to obstruct funding for Kyiv.
In his opening remarks, Austin said Russia paid a staggering price for the war, echoing estimates that at least 315,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded during the war, which has cost Russia up to US$211 billion.
«Nur einen Schritt vom Dritten Weltkrieg entfernt» – Blick ordnet seine Drohung ein: Bläst Putin nach dem Wahlsieg zum grossen Angriff?
Das Problem allerdings sind die russischen Soldaten, von denen laut dem britischen Verteidigungsministerium schätzungsweise 70’000 getötet und 250’000 verwundet worden sind. Viele Russen befürchten daher eine neue Mobilmachung. «Putin weiss zwar um die gesellschaftlichen Risiken einer solch unpopulären Massnahme, dennoch ist eine neue Teilmobilmachung in den nächsten Monaten wahrscheinlich», meint Schmid. Hunderttausende von Reservisten könnten eingezogen und an die Front in der Ukraine geschickt werden.
21 Israeli soldiers are killed in the deadliest single attack on the army since the war began
The reservists were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings in central Gaza on Monday when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby. The blast triggered the explosives, causing both two-story buildings to collapse on the soldiers inside.
Military ends rescue search for Navy SEALs lost in maritime raid on ship with Iranian weapons
According to officials, the Jan. 11 raid targeted an unflagged ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Officials have said that as the team was boarding the ship, one of the SEALs went under in the heavy seas, and a teammate went in to try and save him.
(…)
The U.S. Navy ultimately sunk the ship carrying the weapons after deeming it unsafe, Central Command said. The ship’s 14 crew were detained.
#Gaza map update:
(December 11, 2023)
Stalemate in Gaza: Israeli Forces Remain Static Amidst Heavy Officer Casualties
Last Updated on December 16, 2023
In a surprising turn of events, the Israeli army finds itself in a week-long deadlock in Gaza, with no discernible advancement on the ground. Official reports from the Israeli military reveal a staggering toll among its officers, with casualties reaching alarming proportions.
Shockingly, a substantial 27% of Israeli officers, precisely 108 in number, have been eliminated in the ongoing conflict. The casualties include 5 colonels, 8 lieutenant colonels, 43 majors, 41 captains, and 11 lieutenants, notably many from elite units. What adds a surreal twist to the situation is the age of these officers, most of whom are just over 20 years old.
Pope condemns attacks on civilians in Gaza: ‘It is war; it is terrorism’
“Some say, ‘This is terrorism. This is war.’ Yes, it is war. It is terrorism,” he said. “That is why the Scripture affirms that ‘God stops wars… breaks the bow, splinters the spear’ (Psalm 46:10). Let us pray to the Lord for peace.”
Pope Francis also recalled people in various parts of the world who are suffering due to war.
“Let us not forget our brothers and sisters suffering from war, in Ukraine, in Palestine and Israel, and in other conflict zones,” he said. “May the approach of Christmas strengthen the commitment to open paths of peace.”
Replying to @POTUS Today’s US veto against the UN’s resolution for an immediate cease fire in Gaza, made crystal clear your direct culpability in this genocide. And as such, I will for the first time as life long Democrat do everything in my power to ensure you will not be re-elected.
The War in Gaza Is Splintering the Democratic Party
(November 17, 2023)
Already, there are signs that the party is fracturing over Israel. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, about three-quarters of Democrats want a cease-fire, but few in the Democratic establishment share their views. Last week, in a rare gesture of defiance, more than 100 congressional staffers walked out to demand that their bosses back a cease-fire. More than 500 alumni of Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and Democratic Party staff members have signed a letter imploring Biden to call for a cease-fire, saying, “If you fail to act swiftly, your legacy will be complicity in the face of genocide.”
David Pratt: Joe Biden‘s foreign policy could cost him the election
(December 7, 2023)
In recent days, vice president Kamala Harris – remember her? – has declared that “Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians”, while defence secretary Lloyd Austin delivered the assessment that Israel risks “strategic defeat” unless it protects Palestinians in Gaza.
Talk about too little too late, or perhaps a more appropriate metaphor would be running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.
Despite PM Netanyahu‘s vast personal & political efforts to clear his name and blame the army and its commanders for the disaster of October 7 only 19% of Israelis believe he should remain in post. 72% believe he should resign– 41% after the war, 31% immediately.
(@channel13il)
«Netanyahus Sohn sitzt den Krieg am Strand in Florida aus»
(13. November 2023)
Der älteste Sohn von Benjamin Netanyahu betreibt in den sozialen Medien gezielte Desinformation.
Offiziell übt er keinen Beruf aus – laut israelischen Medien soll er aber seit Jahren die Social-Media-Strategie des Vaters lenken.
Nur ein Bruchteil der Posts enthält tatsächliche Informationen.
Israelis have noticed this image from Gal Eizenkot‘s grave: One father standing over the coffin of his son killed in battle; another father who got underlings to illegally grant his toxic troll son a diplomatic passport when he returned from 9 sybaritic months on Miami Beach.
#Breaking: Gal Eisenkot, 25, son of former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, an opposition member of PM Netanyahu‘s war cabinet, was killed in action today in Gaza. He was killed when a booby trapped explosive blew up as he approached the shaft of a Hamas tunnel
More than 4600 children among the 11180 deaths in Gaza strip
Out of the total deaths, 4,609 were children and 3,100 were women, with more than 28,000 others injured, said Ismail Al-Thawabteh, Director of the Gaza government‘s media office, in a press conference at Shifa Medical Complex.
Keine Marschflugkörper Taurus an die Ukraine liefern!
Der Bundeskanzler, die Außenministerin und der Verteidigungsminister als Vertreter der Bundesregierung dürfen sich von der Rüstungslobby und ihren Anhängern in der FDP, der Union und den Grünen nicht in einen Krieg mit Russland treiben lassen! Auch Taurus-Marschflugkörper werden der Ukraine nicht zu einem militärischen Sieg verhelfen, sondern tragen nur zu mehr Opfern, mehr Leid und zur immer weiteren Zerstörung des Landes bei.
Deutschland ist schon jetzt der zweitgrößte Waffenlieferant an die Ukraine nach den USA. Wir dürfen uns nicht noch weiter in einen aussichtslosen Krieg hineinziehen lassen und das Risiko zu einer Ausweitung erhöhen und tragen.
Fake News von Tagesschau und Baerbock? – „Russischer Terrorangriff“ auf Marktplatz von Kostjantyniwka war laut New York Times wohl ukrainische Rakete
(19. September 2023)
Unter dem Titel „Beweise legen nahe, dass ukrainische Rakete die Markttragödie verursacht hat“ legt die NYT unter anderem dar:
„Die von der New York Times gesammelten und analysierten Beweise, darunter Raketensplitter, Satellitenbilder, Zeugenaussagen und Beiträge in den sozialen Medien, deuten jedoch stark darauf hin, dass der katastrophale Einschlag das Ergebnis einer fehlgeleiteten ukrainischen Luftabwehrrakete war, die von einem Buk-Raketensystem abgefeuert wurde.“
Weiter führt das Blatt aus:
„Die ukrainischen Behörden versuchten zunächst, Journalisten der Times den Zugang zu den Raketentrümmern und dem Einschlagsgebiet unmittelbar nach dem Einschlag zu verwehren. Doch schließlich gelang es den Reportern, an den Ort des Geschehens zu gelangen, Zeugen zu befragen und Überreste der eingesetzten Waffe zu sammeln.“
Evidence Suggests Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Tragedy
(Sept. 18, 2023)
But evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system.
The attack appears to have been a tragic mishap.
Ukraine ‘has never been closer’ to NATO membership – Stoltenberg
“And these three things, the interoperability, the NATO-Ukraine Council and removal of the requirement for Membership Action Plan for Ukraine, demonstrate that Ukraine has never been closer to a membership in NATO than now,” Stoltenberg declared.
US President Joe Biden said ahead of the July summit that Ukraine would have to meet certain conditions before its bid was accepted. NATO member states have also ruled out Ukraine joining before the conflict with Russia is resolved.
Ukraine‘s front-line forces aren‘t advancing as much as ‚hoped‘ in the face of tough Russian defenses, but they‘re gaining ground, about 300 feet per day, NATO chief says
Since the much-anticipated counteroffensive began in early June, Ukraine has faced waves of criticism — including from officials and experts in Western countries that have provided it with military support — that its forces are not moving fast enough. Kyiv has grown increasingly frustrated with such pessimistic commentary, and Dmytro Kuleba, the country‘s top diplomat, even told critics recently to „shut up“ and try liberating territory themselves.
Krieg ohne Krieger – oder: Das phantomhafte Töten und Sterben an der Front
Nicht nur die USA, auch die manifest kriegführenden Akteure in der Ukraine haben aus dem seinerzeitigen ‚Informationsdesaster‘ der US-Army und ihrer GIs im Vietnamkrieg gelernt: Damals lieferten mutige Kriegsberichterstatter noch weitestgehend unzensierte Bilder vom Morden, vom Töten und vom Sterben direkt von der Front frei Haus, die weltweit über die Bildschirme flimmerten und auf den Titelseiten der tonangebenden Zeitungen erschienen – und vor allem die junge Generation in den Ländern des Westens zu Protest- und Verweigerungsaktionen auf die Straße trieben. Spätestens seit dem Golfkrieg 1991 werden wir, wenn überhaupt, nur noch mit – den Militärs und Machthabern genehmen – klinisch-reinen Bildern und Filmen von „Embedded Journalists“ beliefert.
Blinken during visit to Kyiv: We see good progress on counteroffensive, we want to make sure Ukraine has what it needs
„We‘ve seen good progress on the counteroffensive (inaudible). We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs it for the long term to make sure that it has a strong deterrent, strong defense capacity so that, in the future, aggressions like this don‘t happen again,“ the U.S. Secretary of State said.
He also said the United States is determined to continue working with partners to restore a strong economy, strong democracy, „to ensure that Ukraine not only survives, but it thrives in the future.
Death toll in Kostiantynivka rises to 17; search, rescue operation completed
The shelling of the central market in the city of Kostiantynivka (Donetsk region) by Russian occupiers on Wednesday killed 17 civilians, 32 people were injured, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said after the completion of the search and rescue operation.
Gen. Mark Milley: “Measured pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive not a surprise”
The primary challenge for Ukrainian forces is the continued difficulty of breaking through Russia’s multi-layered defensive lines in the eastern and southern parts of the country, which are marked by tens of thousands of mines and vast networks of trenches. Ukrainian forces have incurred staggering losses there, leading Ukrainian commanders to hold back some units to regroup and reduce casualties.
“Russians have a number of defensive lines and they [Ukrainian forces] haven’t really gone through the first line,” said a senior Western diplomat.
Slow counteroffensive darkens mood in Ukraine
(August 10, 2023)
In Smila, a small city in central Ukraine, baker Alla Blyzniuk, 42, said she sells sweets for funeral receptions daily as parents prepare to bury their children killed on the front hundreds of miles away. (…)
Blyzniuk also lives in fear that her husband or two sons of fighting age will be mobilized. She has already noticed that far fewer men walk the streets of her city than before. Ukraine does not disclose its military casualty counts, but everyone shares stories, she said, of new soldiers at the front lasting just two to three days.
Chris Hedges: They Lied About Afghanistan. They Lied About Iraq. And They Are Lying About Ukraine.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war crime, although one that was provoked by NATO expansion and by the United States backing of the 2014 “Maidan” coup which ousted the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych wanted economic integration with the European Union, but not at the expense of economic and political ties with Russia. The war will only be solved through negotiations that allow ethnic Russians in Ukraine to have autonomy and Moscow’s protection, as well as Ukrainian neutrality, which means the country cannot join NATO. The longer these negotiations are delayed the more Ukrainians will suffer and die. Their cities and infrastructure will continue to be pounded into rubble.
Wagner chief accuses Moscow of lying to public about Ukraine
(23.06.2023)
“What was the war for? The war needed for Shoigu to receive a hero star … The oligarchic clan that rules Russia needed the war,” he said.
“The mentally ill scumbags decided: ‘It’s OK, we’ll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as cannon fodder. They’ll die under artillery fire, but we’ll get what we want,’” Prigozhin continued.
While the warlord was careful not to directly attack the Russian president, Prigozhin did question several decisions made by Putin, including the Kremlin’s decision to exchange more than 100 captured Azov fighters for Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally of Putin.
Ukraine war, already with up to 354,000 casualties, likely to last past 2023 – U.S. documents
(April 12, 2023)
According to an assessment collated by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, Russia has suffered 189,500-223,000 total casualties, including 35,500-43,000 killed in action and 154,000-180,000 wounded.
Ukraine has suffered 124,500-131,000 total casualties, including 15,500-17,500 killed in action and 109,000-113,500 wounded in action, according to the document entitled „Russia/Ukraine – Assessed Combat Sustainability and Attrition.“
The figures are around 10 times bigger than any public casualty figures published by either Moscow or Kyiv.
Neither side gives timely data on military losses.
Propaganda auf allen Kanälen
Je nach Quelle haben die Ukrainer in der ersten Woche ihrer Offensive nicht nur große Teile der westlichen Waffen, sondern auch 3.000 bis 5.000 Soldaten verloren. Während deutsche Medien dies unter dem Argument relativieren, Verluste gehörten halt zum Krieg und Russlands demoralisierte Armee werde nun unter Kosten von Material und Menschenleben hinfortgefegt, verweisen pro-russische Kommentatoren darauf, dass der Ukraine bei dieser „selbstmörderischen“ Kriegsführung bereits in zwei bis drei Wochen nicht nur die Waffen und die Munition, sondern auch das menschliche „Kanonenfutter“ ausgehen wird.
In honoring our fallen we must also keep alive the reason that they fought and died for. John F. Kennedy: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” We must never let our freedoms as Americans die. We cannot truly remember and honor those who fought and died for us and our way of life without remembering and honoring what they died for, lest it be in vain. I believe as Americans we have a duty to ensure that these freedoms remain for generations to come, to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and American founding principles.
Heal the Divide! RFK Jr. Live in San Diego
America occupies a unique role in the world as a symbolic beacon for freedom, liberty and democracy. Our service men and women dedicate their lives to upholding these freedoms. It is time for a government that leads the country holding the vision of freedom and liberty in the highest stead.
America is crying for us to heal the divide, for leadership which heals the rifts internally and our relationship with the world.
On Monday 29th, as we honor the commitment and integrity of fallen servicemen and women, we join to create a re-United States which to its core upholds the freedom and liberty of all its people.
Join Robert F. Kennedy, one of the most inspiring and passionate leaders of our time, in calls to action, to community, to vision and to campaign for the healing of America.
We warmly welcome you.
My cousin George Skakel, a gifted naturalist who shared my love for the outdoors, died 54 years ago in the Tet Offensive three weeks before his scheduled discharge. War is a nightmare.
The battle that went viral: Terrifying footage showed a Ukrainian tank obliterating Russians point-blank – now CHRIS PLEASANCE explains what really happened
The K2 battalion of the 54th Mechanized Brigade is an elite group of fighters who are veterans of years of fighting against the Russians.
And they recently won recognition across the world for a terrifying video of their tanks destroying Russian trenches at point blank range – then running over the survivors.
The collapse of U.S. influence over Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom’s new alliances with China and Iran are painful emblems of the abject failure of the Neocon strategy of maintaining U.S. global hegemony with aggressive projections of military power.
(04.04.2023)
China has displaced the American Empire by deftly projecting, instead, economic power. Over the past decade, our country has spent trillions bombing roads, ports, bridges, and airports. China spent the equivalent building the same across the developing world. The Ukraine war is the final collapse of the Neocon‘s short-lived “American Century.” The Neocon projects in Iraq and Ukraine have cost $8.1 trillion, hollowed out our middle class, made a laughingstock of U.S. military power and moral authority, pushed China and Russia into an invincible alliance, destroyed the dollar as the global currency, cost millions of lives and done nothing to advance democracy or win friendships or influence.
Ukraine war live updates: Kyiv claims over 1,000 Russians died in Bakhmut in the last week; Ukraine‘s first lady pleas for more weapons
Zelenskyy said Sunday evening that since March 6, Ukraine‘s forces had „managed to eliminate more than 1,100 enemy soldiers.“
The commander of Ukraine‘s ground forces Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Monday that „Wagner‘s assault units are advancing from several directions, trying to break through the defenses of our troops and advance to the central districts of the city,“ according to the latest post on the Military Media Centre, translated by NBC News.
Die Opfer, die Schäden, die Kosten: Die schockierenden Zahlen nach einem Jahr Krieg
Keine Zahl wird für Propaganda so stark verwendet wie die Zahl der Opfer. Die Ukraine spricht von 140’000 toten Russen, die Russen von 157’000 toten Ukrainern. Eine mehr oder weniger verlässliche und neutrale Bilanz dürfte der norwegische Armeechef Eirik Kristoffersen (53) geliefert haben: Er spricht von 180’000 Toten und Verwundeten aufseiten der russischen Armee sowie 100’000 toten und verwundeten ukrainischen Armeeangehörigen. Dazu kommen 30’000 getötete Zivilisten.
Ukraine war: US estimates 200,000 military casualties on all sides
(10 November 2022)
Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also suggested that around 40,000 civilians had died after being caught up in the conflict.
Remarks by President Biden on the Terror Attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport
Q And you said that you still — a few days ago, you said you squarely stand by your decision to pull out.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I do. Because look at it this way, folks — and I’m going to — I have another meeting, for real. But imagine where we’d be if I had indicated, on May the 1st, I was not going to renegotiate an evacuation date; we were going to stay there.
I’d have only one alternative: Pour thousands of more troops back into Afghanistan to fight a war that we had already won, relative — is why the reason we went in the first place.
I have never been of the view that we should be sacrificing American lives to try to establish a democratic government in Afghanistan — a country that has never once in its entire history been a united country, and is made up — and I don’t mean this in a derogatory — made up of different tribes who have never, ever, ever gotten along with one another.
And so, as I said before — and this is the last comment I’ll make, but we’ll have more chance to talk about this, unfortunately, beyond, because we’re not out yet — if Osama bin Laden, as well as al Qaeda, had chosen to launch an attack — when they left Saudi Arabia — out of Yemen, would we have ever gone to Afghanistan? Even though the Taliban completely controlled Afghanistan at the time, would we have ever gone?
I know it’s not fair to ask you questions. It’s rhetorical. But raise your hand if you think we should have gone and given up thousands of lives and tens of thousands of wounded.
Our interest in going was to prevent al Qaeda from reemerging — first to get bin Laden, wipe out al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and prevent that from happening again.
As I’ve said 100 times: Terrorism has metastasized around the world; we have greater threats coming out of other countries a heck of a lot closer to the United States.
We don’t have military encampments there; we don’t keep people there. We have over-the-horizon capability to keep them from going after us.
Ladies and gentlemen, it was time to end a 20-year war.
„How many more generations of America‘s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan‘s civil war when Afghan troops will not?“ President Biden says. „I‘m clear on my answer. I will not repeat the mistakes we‘ve made in the past.“
UK military and civilian fatalities in Afghanistan 2001-2020
Published by D. Clark, Sep 21, 2020
Between UK October 2001 to March 2020 there have been 454 fatalities of military and civilians for the United Kingdom in Afghanistan under Operation Herrick. The years with the most fatalities were 2009 and 2010, with both years seeing more than a hundred deaths.
How Many People Has the U.S. Killed in its Post-9/11 Wars? Part 2: Afghanistan and Pakistan
(April 3, 2018)
Costs of War and UNAMA have counted 36,754 civilian deaths up to the end of 2017. If these (extremely) passive reports represent 5 percent of total civilian deaths, as in Guatemala, the actual death toll would be about 735,000. If UNAMA has in fact eclipsed Guatemala’s previously unsurpassed record of undercounting civilian deaths and only counted 3 or 4 percent of actual deaths, then the real total could be as high as 1.23 million. If the ratio were only the same as originally found in Iraq in 2006 (14:1 – before Iraq Body Count revised its figures), it would be only 515,000.
Adding these figures to my estimate of Afghan combatants killed on both sides, we can make a rough estimate that about 875,000 Afghans have been killed since 2001, with a minimum of 640,000 and a maximum of 1.4 million.
Costs of the Afghanistan war, in lives and dollars
American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.
U.S. contractors: 3,846.
Afghan national military and police: 66,000.
Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.
Remarks by President Biden at the 153rd National Memorial Day Observance
Today, as we remember their sacrifice, we remind ourselves of our duty to their memory, to the future they fought for. We owe the honored dead a debt we can never fully repay. We owe them our whole souls. We owe them our full best efforts to perfect the Union for which they died.
We owe them the work of our hands and our hearts, to make real the promise of a nation founded on the proposition that all of us — all of us — all of us are created equal and deserve to be treated that way throughout our lives.
Democracy is more than a form of government. It’s a way of being; it’s a way of seeing the world. Democracy means the rule of the people — the rule of the people. Not the rule of monarchs, not the rule of the moneyed, not the rule of the mighty — literally, the rule of the people.
The lives of billions, from antiquity to our own hour, have been shaped by the battle between aspirations of the many and the greed of the few. Between people’s right to self-determination and the self-seeking of the dictator. Between dreams of democracy and appetites for autocracy, which we’re seeing around the world.
Our troops have fought this battle on fields around the world, but also the battle of our time. And the mission falls to each of us, each and every day. Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world.
Biden Warns Democracy ‘In Peril’ During Memorial Day
Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery, Biden said “democracy itself” is in “peril” in the U.S. and around the world.
“What we do now” and “how we honor the memory of the fallen,” Biden said, will determine whether democracy can endure.
Repeating one of his go-to campaign lines, Biden claimed the battle for the “soul of America” is “animated by the perennial battle between our worst instincts—which we’ve seen of late—and our better angels.”
President Biden Made the Right Choice to Withdraw from Afghanistan
We all know theoretically that “sunk costs are sunk,” but when those costs are friends and teammates, it isn’t easy to walk away. There’s no way ever to quantify the loss of over 2,200 American servicemen and women, 3,800 American contractors, and 100,000 Afghans over two decades. The stoic philosophers like Epictetus and Aurelius taught to detach without being vacuous but that isn’t always the easiest advice to follow. Like all SEALs and service members of my era, I’ve buried far too many friends. We best honor them by making a stoic and intelligent choice today, not by sacrificing and investing more in a mission no longer central to our national security.
On Memorial Day, Dozens Protest in Solidarity With Israeli Army Vet Who Set Himself on Fire
Dozens of people, including disabled Israeli military veterans and those with post-traumatic stress disorder, demonstrated on Wednesday in front of Defense Ministry‘s rehabilitation clinic in central Israel, where a disabled veteran set himself on fire on Monday, protesting a lack of support from the ministry in vets‘ rehabilitation.