Security

Americans Left Iraq. Afghanistan Is Winding Down

By Cristina Lindblad and Brian Reardon on October 11, 2012

Security

Americans Left Iraq. Afghanistan Is Winding Down

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The U.S. military’s number of active duty personnel is up 3.6 percent since 2008, yet the number of boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan has fallen. The number of U.S. fatalities rose amid a troop surge in 2010 in Afghanistan; the number has fallen since.

Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, iCasualties.org, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Legion; Photograph by Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Lindblad is an associate news editor for Bloomberg Businessweek. Reardon is a contributing graphic designer for Bloomberg Businessweek.