Sunday, December 5, 2010

IntLawGrrls

IntLawGrrls

...and counting...

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 03:00 AM PST

(Occasional sobering thoughts.) It's been a week for "surprise" visits to conflict zones: U.S. President Barack Obama to Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Iraq's officials, in Baghdad. Can't help but wonder the degree to which recent leaks about attitudes toward world leaders prompted the face time.
Also worth pondering is the image at left. Not a poor imitation of Rothko, but rather a color-coded charting of deaths in Iraq. Orange = civilians.
With that in mind, here's the casualty count since our last such post 6 weeks ago:
► The U.S. Department of Defense reports that coalition military casualties in Afghanistan stand at 1,416 Americans, 345 Britons, and 484 other coalition servicemembers. That's an increase of 68, 4, and 5 casualties, respectively, in the last 6 weeks. The total coalition casualty count in the Afghanistan conflict is 2,245 service women and men.
► Respecting the conflict in Iraq, Iraq Body Count reports that between 99,021 and 108,094 Iraqi women, children, and men have died in the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. That represents an increase of between 436 and 500 persons since 6 weeks ago. According to the U.S. Defense Department, 4,429 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq, representing 3 servicemember deaths in the last 6 weeks. (As posted, U.S. troops are the only foreign forces remaining in Iraq.)

On December 5

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 01:04 AM PST

On this day in ...
... 1985 (25 years ago today), Britain confirmed that it was withdrawing from UNESCO, the U.N. Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, founded in 1946, of which Britain was a charter state. The decision took effect at year's end. British charges that the organization was "'politicized'" and "anti-Western" echoed complaints that had led the United States to quit in 1984. On July 1, 1997, Britain rejoined UNESCO; the United States followed suit a few years later. Today the Paris-based organization has 193 member states.

(Prior December 5 posts are here, here, and here.)
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