Currently Congress has an approval rating of 13.9 percent. Maybe this has something to do with it.

Published time: December 30, 2013 17:35
Reuters / Mark Wilson / Pool

American support (click here) for the war in Afghanistan is shrinking to unprecedented levels, even sliding below the lowest points seen for the Iraq and Vietnam wars, a new study shows.

As the United States and Afghanistan negotiate an agreement to extend the presence of American and NATO troops into and beyond 2014, a new CNN/ORC International poll found that only 17 percent of Americans support the 12-year-old war.

The study found that about 82 percent of Americans polled disapprove of the ongoing US military operation in Afghanistan, a number that’s up significantly compared to the 46 percent who opposed the conflict in 2008.

Fifty-seven percent said the war is going badly for the United States, while only one-third believe the US is winning....

December 26, 2013

The Department of Defense (click here) has identified 2,285 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations. It confirmed the death of the following American recently:

VASSELIAN, Daniel M., 27, Sgt., Marines; Abington, Mass.; Second Marine Division.

All NATO soldiers dead to date including Americans:(click here - listed by name with two unidentified)

Records returned: 3409 

Civilian Afghan Casualties from "The Nation" (click here)

Total 6,481

When an Afghan civilian dies in war, the world rarely notices: the Afghan government, hospitals and morgues in the country, even the US-led international military force that has been a presence there since late 2001, all fail to keep comprehensive lists of civilian fatalities. This interactive database is an attempt to compile as complete a list as possible of civilian deaths that have occurred in Afghanistan as a result of war-related actions by the United States, its allies and Afghan government forces, from the invasion in October of 2001 through the end of 2012. It relies on an extensive survey of reliable media accounts for its raw data, and when no media account is available, on the casualty reports of NGOs, human rights organizations and ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force). 

The escalation of Afghan civilian casualties, ending in death began with the Command of David McKiernan, who was replaced by General Stanley McCrystal.
The most deadly attack on civilians under McKiernan was Azizabad.

Afganistan: US Investigation of Airstrike Deaths 'Deeply Flawed' (click here)
New Administration Should Revise Policies to Reduce Civilian Casualties

JANUARY 15, 2009

..."The weaknesses in the Callan investigation call into question the Defense Department's commitment to avoid civilian casualties," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Unless the new Obama administration urgently addresses the US military's airstrike practices in Afghanistan, more unnecessary civilian deaths and injuries will result."...

Those casualties were under Bush. McKiernan was responsible for 1328 fatalities in 93 strikes. The most deadly attacks were conducted in the closing days of the Bush/Cheney administration in July and August of 2008, just before the global banking collapse.

August of 2008 saw the most civilian attacks in the prolonged war. There were 638 civilians killed during 11 attacks. July 2008 was second highest with 203 civilians in 11 attacks.

In May of 2009 following the Granai airstrike taking 91 civilians in Kunduz Province, General McCrystal ordered there to be no strikes on any compound unless it was for self defense. He stated troops should withdraw before attacking a compound where high civilian casualties can occur. The civilian casualties dropped after that with General Petraeus instituting CIVCAS (Civilian Casualties) Mitigation Team. The new team was created from the previous Civilian Casuality Tracking Cell.