Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Afghanistan now is not only the costliest of America’s two wars, but also the more demanding in terms of troops. The Department of Defense officially announced this week that more soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan than in Iraq, a first since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s government.
There are 94,000 American forces in Afghanistan and 92,000 in Iraq. The U.S. plans for troop levels in Afghanistan to level off at 98,000 later this year. This total would be a far cry from the peak of the Iraq war in 2006 and 2007, when the U.S. commitment ranged between 130,000 and 172,000 personnel.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
More U.S. troops in Afghanistan than Iraq (by Anne Gearan, Associated Press)
Cost of War in Afghanistan Passes War in Iraq (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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