8/30/17: The Pentagon announces it has increased the number of troops in Afghanistan to 11,000. (The next day Secretary of Defense James Mattis signs orders to send an additional 4,000 soldiers.)
After sixteen years we still can’t win the war. U.S. casualties number 2,403 dead and 20,000+ wounded. Our allies have lost heavily, too. The cost to our nation, not counting future expenses to treat disabled veterans, has passed $1.07 trillion.
If the
population of Afghanistan is 34.66 million (recent estimate) that means we could have given every man, woman, and
child in that country $30,871.32 if they agreed to give us all their guns.
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8/31/17: The remnants of Hurricane Harvey linger over Texas and Louisiana.
Before the storm dies out it dumps
fifty inches of rain. (Climate change scientists have long predicted rising temperatures will lead to extreme rain events.) Tens
of thousands of homes are flooded. At least 82 deaths result. Damage estimates range from $65 billion to as much as $190 billion. (See 8/9/17; 8/27/17.)
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