Casualty Rates of US Military Personnel During the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Abstract

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, which ended in August 2010, nearly 3500 hostile deaths occurred among US military personnel and 32,000 more were wounded in action (WIA). More than 1800 hostile deaths occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom (in and around Afghanistan) through 2014 and about 20,000 were WIA. A larger proportion of wounded personnel survived in Iraq and Afghanistan than during the Vietnam War, but the increased survival rates were not as high as some studies have asserted. The survival rates were 90.2% in Iraq and 91.6% in Afghanistan, compared with 86.5% in Vietnam. The casualty rates varied between the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and before, during, and after the respective surges. Amputation rates are difficult to measure consistently, but I estimate that 2.6% of all WIA and 9.0% of medically evacuated WIA from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters combined resulted in the major loss of a limb. Elevated non-hostile death rates (including deaths due to accidents, illnesses, homicides, or suicides) resulted in about 220 more deaths in Iraq and about 200 more deaths in Afghanistan than would have been expected in peacetime among populations of the size deployed to those two conflicts.     

A Good Ally - Norway and International Statebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

The article examines the findings of the Commission of Inquiry established by the Norwegian government in 2014 to evaluate all aspects of Norway’s civilian and military contribution to the international operation in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Concerned with the wider implications of the Commission’s findings, it focuses on two issues in particular: (1) Norway’s relations with the US, a close and long-standing strategic ally whose resources, capabilities and dominance of decision-making dwarfed that of all other coalition partners in Afghanistan; and (2) Norway’s record in the province of Faryab, where, from 2005 to 2012, a Norwegian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team was charged with bringing security, good governance and development to the province. How Norway prioritised and managed relations with the US highlights and helps to problematise the challenges – political, practical and moral – facing small and medium-sized powers operating in a coalition alongside the US. Norwegian efforts in Faryab are revealing of the dilemmas and contradictions that plagued and, ultimately, fatally undermined the international intervention as a whole. As such, Norway’s experience provides a microcosm through which the inherent limitations of the attempt to transfer the structures of modern statehood and Western democracy to Afghanistan can be better understood.     

A Question of ‘Government’ Control: Afghanistan DDR Programs Since 2001

Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), the United States, the United Nations, and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have funded and led three different Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs. Despite a significant investment in time and treasure, all of them have failed to significantly reduce the number of insurgents or arbaki (militia). This article explores why these programs failed despite incorporating ideas from the prominent DDR schools of thought. Utilizing Stathis Kalyvas’ theory of The Logic of Violence in Civil War as a lens, this article argues that GIRoA and ISAF did not have sufficient control of territory to entice insurgents or arbaki to reconcile and/or reintegrate with the government. Further, in areas GIRoA nominally controlled in northern and western Afghanistan, regional powerbrokers who controlled these areas balked at these programs.     

生命哲学视角下西部高校教师职业幸福感研究

幸福是人生追求的永恒主题,在以人为本的理念下,高等教育更为关注人的生命,人的生命存在方式。面对信息相对闭塞、生活环境相对恶劣、管理体制相对落后等无奈状况,西部高校教师职业幸福感如何？对于该问题的研究有利于促进教师心理健康发展,提升教师幸福感,提高教育教学质量。研究发现西部高校教师职业感受以不幸福为主;幸福感来源单一,主要来自于学生的行为表现;导致不幸福感的因素主要以压力大、学生问题、缺乏认可等因素为主。研究从生命哲学视角出发认为高校教师存在的应然意义在于“诗意栖息”,但实然状况下高校教师的“诗意存在”被现实消解,“创造性地栖息”、“精神相遇地栖息”是冲破藩篱、回归“诗意居住”幸福生活的路径。     

新疆兵团中小学双语教育质量调查及对策研究--以兵团第三师为例

双语教育质量是兵团民族教育的关键,直接影响高素质少数民族人才的培养。本文在深入调查的基础上,研究兵团中小学双语教育质量及其现状,通过对影响双语教育质量的各个因素进行分析,总结双语教育中存在的问题,并在此基础上提出加强校本培训和师资队伍建设,完善双语教材及考核评价体系等对策。     

远海护航行动中舰载直升机巡逻警戒空域的设置

针对远海伴随护航过程中舰载直升机巡逻警戒空域设置问题,在分析影响舰载直升机巡逻警戒空域设置因素及确定舰载直升机巡逻警戒方式的基础上,结合被护船只的数量和队形,从舰载直升机有效震慑海盗,确保被护船队安全的要求出发,构建了舰载直升机巡逻警戒空域范围的计算模型,对舰载直升机远海伴随护航行动中巡逻警戒空域的设置问题进行了量化研究,所得结论可为舰载直升机巡逻警戒空域的优化设置提供理论指导和使用参考。     

大学英语分级教学模式下的学习策略培养

大学英语分级教学模式下对学生的学习策略培养非常重要。教师在整个教学过程当中,要研究和掌握学生的语言学习习得过程,研究其学习特点,认知风格,心理特征,加强对学生学习策略的培养和指导,帮助学生积极参与、探索、建构和使用学习策略,为学生掌握学习策略提供条件与平台,使学生自觉运用学习策略自我管理、自我调控、自我评估学习过程和学习效果,不断提高自主学习的能力。     

海上毒品案件实物证据的特点和收集

收集证据是办理刑事案件的一项重要工作内容。实物证据是海上毒品案件的一种重要证据形式,虽然收集难度大,但对于追查和打击毒品犯罪却能够发挥重要作用。因此,侦查人员要了解海上毒品犯罪案件实物证据的特点、种类以及收集方法,以便更有效地打击毒品犯罪。     

以“贴近纳新”理念改进 任职教育军事专业课教法的几点思考

深化以任职教育为主体的教学方法改革,是顺应当前武警部队职能任务多样化的必然要求。任职教育适应岗位任职能力的需要必须注重加强军事专业课教学方法的改革与探索。“贴近纳新”把贴近职能需要纳入教学理念、贴近任职实际纳入组教模式、贴近岗位实用纳入课题施教为着眼点,旨在适应任职教育岗位任职能力培养的需要。     

新疆高校开拓中亚教育市场的SWOT分析与战略选择

本文运用SWOT分析方法对新疆高校开发中亚教育市场中面临的优势、劣势、机遇、威胁四个方面进行了全面分析。新疆留学生教育的发展,优势与劣势并存、机会与威胁同在,关键是如何充分利用优势、消除劣势。并借助SWOT模型中的不同战略组合提出了新疆开发中亚留学市场的的LCVP战略选择方式,为发展新疆留学生教育提供了依据。