Final Casualty Tally: September, 2009

The Associated Press has reported that 37 American soldiers were killed this September fighting in Afghanistan. That number is down from a record high of 51 deaths in August, but is still one of the bloodiest months of the war. NATO allies suffered an additional 28 deaths, a significant increase over August, an ominous statistic if Obama is intending to seek further troop support from those nations. Finally, Afghan civilian deaths, largely at the hands of the Taliban, increased from 169 in August to 202 in September.