When I was a kid, my father told me about his service in the Vietnam War and stories about [1] the Tet Offensive.  To give those without historical knowledge a background, in 1968 the Vietcong had amassed forces to invade free South Vietnam, and US troops suffered casualties larger than normal.  After the offensive was completed, our media had a circus about the massive losses of American soldiers, leading to a demoralization of US citizenry and eventually leading to the abandonment of our allies.  After we left, our friends were slaughtered by the sadistic and communist Vietcong in something no less horrifying than any other massively publicized genocidal tragedy.

The worst part about the Tet Offensive wasn’t that we lost a lot of troops, however, but rather that–in military terms–it was a grand success for our boys, and the American public had no real clue how much we had won.  After that massive success, the self-sacrificing upholders of the free world (I dare the reader to portray the Vietcong in a positive light) were portrayed as failures and spat upon for fighting communism not only successfully, but heroically.

Today we find ourselves in a similar situation, with the media reporting negatively about the number of US casualties in Afghanistan, driving morale into the gutter and making situations seem more hopeless than they really are.  But take hope.  Things aren’t what they seem.

For instance, if one takes a close look at the casualties suffered by our troops since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, that person would find that we’ve had 556 US soldiers killed in action since the beginning of the Afghani war (this number comes from both [2] independent and [3] government sites, and stands as of August 31st, 2009).  If one were to then take only insurgent casualties–meaning casualties for armed anti-US combatants, not collateral civilian casualties–then what we’d find is the following.  Please consider that this tally only comprises three years of the occupation, and that several years were left out for lack of credible totals (which means the total number of killed insurgents is actually much higher).

[4] 2008: about 5000 insurgents killed

[5] 2007: about 4500 insurgents killed

[6] 2001: about 6000 insurgents killed

Combining just these three years, disqualifying any combatants killed in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009, we end up with 15,500 dead enemy combatants, which is about 28 times the amount of US soldiers killed in action. With these numbers in hand, the picture becomes clear.  Our boys aren’t losing: they’re stomping all over the Taliban like we were fighting an army of little girls.

So is the fighting getting nastier over there?  Yes.  We’ve just had our [7] deadliest month.  But the good news is that Afghanis are voting, and the Taliban is so worried about having a successful democracy in Afghanistan that they’ve [8] begun resorting to violence at polling stations and voting booths.  This is an act of desperation, and it’s because they cannot resort to persuasion.  The Afghani people are voting against the Taliban’s wishes, which I must remind the reader is why we’re there: to establish a democracy, and hopefully get the heck out of there when we’re done.  If they’ve got a turnout rate between 40% and 50% during a time of imminent danger, that may still be higher than ours and a testament to our efforts (Editor’s note: embarrassed to look at national turnout rates, please check on your own).

God gave us a powerful military, ladies and gentlemen.  So while we must make sure to not be prideful of our gift, we must make sure to not insult our troops or take them for granted.  Remember that our military is in Afghanistan because we were attacked, and the reason we haven’t left is because we don’t want to destabilize a country and then leave, especially in such a sensitive portion of the world. We’re simply too kind and smart to do that.  The other options (blowing the country to smithereens and leaving or establishing a dictatorship) both are not and were not acceptable.

So pass these numbers along to your friends, and let them know that the US military is doing a darn fine job.  And for goodness’ sake, thank a veteran and pray for success in the coming months.