Sunday, November 15, 2009

War Notes: November 16, 2009


Troop morale in Afghanistan has sunk to an all-time low, according to an Army study. Only 5.7% of soldiers polled described their units as having "high morale", down from 10.2% two years ago. The study reasonably attributed the decline in morale to soldiers suffering from the anxiety of their third, four and fifth tours of duty, and noted that the Fort Hood killing were likely to lead to more long-term morale problems.
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In 2010, the cost of the war in Afghanistan is expected to surpass the cost of the war in Iraq for the first time since the latter began. If the Obama administration is able to execute its partial withdrawal strategy in Iraq, the 2010 costs of that war would drop from $86,500,000,000 to $61,000,000,000, while the cost of the war in Afghanistan is expected to rise from $47,000,000,000 to $64,500,000,000. It is important to note that these numbers do not include a possible escalation in troops, which the administration has admitted may cost as much as $40,000,000,000 more. No surprise that many members of the Democratic Caucus are suggesting that they will vote against funding such an escalation.
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The people of ("Old") York rallied behind Corporal Joe Glenton of the British military, who is charged with disobeying orders after leading an anti-war march last month. Glenton made waves in Britain by going AWOL for over two years after declaring the war in Afghanistan immoral and illegal in 2007. He turned himself in earlier this year, and has been very active in the anti-war movement at home. The U.S military has seen similar stories of soldiers refusing to serve, including one tragic story I'll be writing about tomorrow, but no individual soldier refusing to serve as caused an equivalent stir to Glenton over here.

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