Daughterofliberty's Weblog

Quick Facts About U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan

daughterofliberty — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:39:37 +0000

From the National Priorities Project:

The Obama Administration is in the process of preparing a set of benchmarks which will be used to gauge the progress of U.S. military and civilian operations in Afghanistan. Ordered by Congress, the benchmarks are due by September 24. In addition, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has just released an interim assessment of the situation in the region. It has been widely reported that as a result of this assessment, Gen. McChrystal may request that as many as 45,000 additional U.S. troops be sent to Afghanistan.

The following are quick facts about the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan to date. We hope they are useful to you to you as you follow this issue.

U.S. Troop Levels in Afghanistan
Fiscal Year	Troops
2001	N/A
2002	5,200
2003	10,400
2004	15,200
2005	19,100
2006	20,400
2007	23,700
2008	30,100
2009	50,700*

* Current Troop Levels – There are roughly 62,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. This number is expected to grow to at least 68,000 by December. [Gates Says Additional Local Forces May Be Needed In Afghan War, Bloomberg News, September 1, 2009.]

NOTE: The Defense Department reports troop levels involved in military operations in several ways. The figures shown here are taken from the Pentagon’s Boots on the Ground (BOG) reports to Congress. They reflect only personnel located in Afghanistan and do NOT include other personnel deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, such as those providing logistical support in neighboring countries,

Source: Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues, Congressional Research Service Report R40682, July 2, 2009
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40682.pdf

Annual Funding for U.S. Combat Operations in Afghanistan
Fiscal Year	$ in Billions
2001	N/A
2002*	20.8
2003	14.7
2004	14.5
2005	20
2006	19
2007	36.9
2008	42.1
2009	60.2
TOTAL	228.2

NOTE: 2002 figure includes both FY 2001 and 2002 funding. The source gave only the total and did not break out funding for each year.

Source: The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11, Congressional Research Service Report RL33110, May 15, 2009
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf

U.S. Military Fatalities in Afghanistan
Year	U.S. Fatalities
2001	12
2002	49
2003	48
2004	52
2005	99
2006	98
2007	117
2008	155
2009	183*
TOTAL	813

*NOTE: As of September 1, 2009

Source: Icasualties at http://icasualties.org

NPP’s Cost of War Counter See NPP’s Afghanistan Cost of War Counter (http://www.costofwar.com/) and calculate the cost of the war to your state (and in many cases your city or town).

Additional Resources

Civilian Casualties the Human Rights Unit of United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan publishes an Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan, which is updated every six months. Their website is http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1816

Additional casualty data, plus Background information on Afghanistan can be found in The Cost of War in Afghanistan, published jointly by NPP and the American Friends Service Committee. It can be found at: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/auxiliary/costofwar/cost_of_war_afghanistan.pdf

Americans Following Obama

daughterofliberty — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 08:14:01 +0000

No explanation needed, and so appropriate. Their action matches the looks they all wore during the campaign speeches. I am soo glad I voted for Ron Paul, so don’t blame me!

What’s happening to America?

daughterofliberty — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:16:42 +0000

People will not realize the main problem in America until they actually take the time to do some serious research for themselves, but hopefully this video may open that window for you.

The primary cause of loss of liberty is our ever expanding government and it is manifest in the resulting economic situations.

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Discovering Ron Paul: From Nut to Hero

daughterofliberty — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:48:12 +0000

Discovering Ron Paul: From Nut to Hero

Posted July 30th, 2008 by sempiternal

I was asked to digg my experience, so here it is :

The first time I spent any time listening to Ron Paul was at the Republican debates at Reagan Library on January 30, 2008. But I still paid little attention to him and did not want to bother finding out what he was all about. Since Romney has a history of turning bad financial situations around, and is very intelligent, I was supporting him and pretty much making fun of Ron Paul, just like most everyone else.

But I was not making fun of Ron Paul for what he stood for, I didn’t really know, I was merely making fun of him because of first impressions and what the media was telling me about him – especially Sean Hannity.

Even prior to the Reagan debate, I had been told about Ron Paul, but didn’t really understand what he stood for or what his values really were. As a result, I always had the impression he was a red-nosed ‘clown’ with no chance of winning, and he seemed to get too excited and whine too much when he talked. I was basically purely and ignorantly judging him based upon exactly what the media was representing him as.

After hearing a little about Ron Paul from someone, I still thought he was a nut! How could we just pull out of a war and give up, essentially losing everything already sacrificed? I had personally been involved in two similar wars, where it felt like the government just gave up, and in doing so seemingly made all the great sacrifices for naught. Ron Paul is nuts, I thought.

How did this change?

It was only through a significant outrageous event that I began to wake up to the reality all around me.

The massive government raid on the FLDS ranch got me searching the Internet for what the hell was going on.

At first, I went to Hannity.com to post there and ask questions, but found out that most the people in those forums were actually a bunch of ignorant name-calling people that were happy that these people got raided. They had no clue how the government was abusing the Constitution and these FLDS people, and didn’t care.

After many searches for news media on the FLDS and seeing all the misrepresentations and outrageous claims and lies made by the government and parroted by the media, the final search before I spent the time to become aware of who Ron Paul really is, was here to www.dailypaul.com.

After coming here, I found many people that realized the same things as I did, that these FLDS people were having their rights severely violated by the government, there was almost nobody at Daily Paul that disagreed. I was amazed at the difference in the people from Sean Humanity’s site compared to Daily Paul; it was the difference between discussing things with a 4th grade bully constantly calling names for no purpose other than noise, to an educated group of adults talking about issues around the table. That made a big impression on me.

After that, I realized I really needed to spend some time finding out who Ron Paul was and to also stop listening to Sean Hannity and the TV.

Finally taking the time to actually listen to what Ron Paul had been saying all along, I was overwhelmed — I couldn’t believe how distorted the truth and media had been about Paul, and how foolish I had been to not even listen to the man when considering Presidential candidates.

I imagine the rest of the nation is still in the same boat as I was, floating happily around the tip of a massive iceberg of excessive government hiding directly beneath the surface. Without a significant event that really makes a big splash, catches their attention and grabs a hold of them, shaking them out of their slumber, they will continue to believe the TV and pay no attention to Ron Paul.

In the end, it’s now obvious I was the nut, and so are the rest of the ignorant Americans, ignoring Ron Paul by default, ignoring Ron Paul because they are told to. Not even educating themselves on the most viable candidate for actually honoring his oath of office.

As for the war, now I realize we shouldn’t have been there to begin with, it was justified based upon lies, the head of the CIA was disgracefully forced to resign because of it. With my newfound realization that we went to war based upon lies, it’s apparent that leaving is not giving up everything already sacrificed, leaving is cutting our losses short and preventing further unnecessary sacrifice – the longer we stay, the more we lose.

Now I know the truth.

Ron Paul supporters are actually educated on the issues, they know the truth and they know what is going on – many of those supporting other candidates merely watch TV to found the basis of their opinions and ignore everything else past that point – and I am embarrassed to say, I was one of them.

If there is anyone that should be President of America, it is the person that will actually honor the oath of office, ignoring any criticisms regardless of how popular they might seem to be, and strictly defend the Constitution of the United States against all attacks, both foreign and domestic.

While nobody else dared to, Ron Paul has done just that, consistently, for decades, even if bravely standing alone for what was right.

Ron Paul is an American Hero.

The above post was so honest I just had to include it here today. Deep Bows to this poster on the Daily Paul.

CURIOUS… When did you first hear about Ron Paul?

daughterofliberty — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:27:50 +0000

So what was it for you?! What was it that rang your bell, cut through the noise, got your attention, and made you do this:

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Mandatory Gun Ownership Law in GA Town Resulted in Low Crime

daughterofliberty — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:14:06 +0000

The Kennesaw law has endured as the town’s population has swelled to about 30,000 from 5,000 in 1982. “When the law was passed in 1982 there was a substantial drop in crime … and we have maintained a really low crime rate since then,” said police Lt. Craig Graydon.

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Flashback: Ron Paul Educates John McCain

daughterofliberty — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:23:10 +0000

Ron Paul vs. John McCain at the CNN/YouTube debate, St. Petersburg Florida, November 28, 2007. Dr. Paul once again explains foreign policy to a Republican contender. Who makes more sense? Come September 1 & 2 in Minneapolis, who would you rather spend your time listening to?

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CALLING ALL RON PAUL SUPPORTERS!!!

daughterofliberty — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:10:54 +0000

This is urgent and a must watch. Wake up people! It’s not over yet!!

read more | digg story

The Bird Feeder

daughterofliberty — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:17:00 +0000

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled It with seed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it is, as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds Taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table . Everywhere!

Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.

And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn’t even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like It used to be…. quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now let’s see. Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic Citizen.

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; Your child’s 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn’t speak English.

Corn Flakes now come in a Bilingual box; I have to ‘press one’ to hear my bank talk to me in English, and People waving flags other than ‘Old Glory’ are squawking and screaming In the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe it’s time for the government To take down the bird feeder. If you agree, pass it on; if not, Continue cleaning up the poop.

I received this as an email and have had exactly the same experience with my bird feeders. I don’t know who the author is, but thank you. I thought the same things as I refilled and then took down my feeders to get rid of the flock of large, wild doves that invaded and chased all the littler birds away. I was kind of excited and touched when the first few doves showed up a few days after my Mother died in 2000. They were unusual to see and beautiful, cooing from the tall trees. But then they kept coming. They stayed. All the other varieties of birds they chased off. They began to harass my two old, non-threatening cats. My feeders were not designed for large birds, and the doves began to destroy them to get to the food. Sadly, I decided the only thing to do was take the feeders down. The Doves took several weeks to leave. They still come and check to see if there are feeders in the yard every now and then.

The corollary here is great! Our good ole’ USA is fast becoming a feed-trough for those looking for easy and free. Illegally. That isn’t exactly MY definition of Freedom. That is my definition for capital-L Lazy. Rather like Crows, trying to sneak into an Eagle’s nest.

An Honored SEAL Send-off

daughterofliberty — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:33 +0000

PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor , a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.

During Mike Monsoor’s funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two’s, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike’s coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.

The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero. This is what we should be seeing in the news. I received this in an email, wish I had seen it on the front page of a major newspaper. These men are our Heroes.

Daughterofliberty's Weblog

Quick Facts About U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan

Americans Following Obama

What’s happening to America?

Discovering Ron Paul: From Nut to Hero

Discovering Ron Paul: From Nut to Hero

CURIOUS… When did you *first* hear about Ron Paul?

Mandatory Gun Ownership Law in GA Town Resulted in Low Crime

Flashback: Ron Paul Educates John McCain

CALLING ALL RON PAUL SUPPORTERS!!!

The Bird Feeder

An Honored SEAL Send-off

CURIOUS… When did you first hear about Ron Paul?