A Matter of Proportion

The entire number of foreign troops killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011 was 565, of which 417 were from the U.S., all of those volunteers. That number - 417 - is about what we kill on the U.S. highways during a holiday weekend.

No wonder there isn't overwhelming popular pressure to "bring the troops home." Afghanistan is a low intensity war, which doesn't make the loss of those 417 any less painful to their families. The source of the casualty number is this article in news.com.