The number of soldiers to have died since the Afghan insurgency began in 2001 at 1,964, with 1,204 of them Americans.
The Pakistani 'thing' about assisting the Taliban? It is probably related to intelligence operations that appear to assisting the Taliban for purposes of infiltration. I'll leave it there until more is actually known.
,,,The documents, made available by an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organize networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders.
Taken together, the reports indicate that American soldiers on the ground are inundated with accounts of a network of Pakistani assets and collaborators that runs from the Pakistani tribal belt along the Afghan border, through southern Afghanistan, and all the way to the capital, Kabul.
Much of the information — raw intelligence and threat assessments gathered from the field in Afghanistan— cannot be verified and likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan intelligence, which considers Pakistan an enemy, and paid informants. Some describe plots for attacks that do not appear to have taken place.
But many of the reports rely on sources that the military rated as reliable....
The problem is that the ISI doesn't always report the operations they plan with the Taliban to stop the insurgency. That is not 'intelligence,' it is sabotage.
The 'planned' events with ISI and the Taliban are suppose to expose the enemy,but, all to often the ISI have proven to be a good ally to the enemy.
Since 2001, the Afghanistan War alone has garnered a cost of $300 billion.
James Jones, the US national security adviser, said the US "strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security".
"These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people."