Ladies, would you please excuse us for a moment? I would like to speak frankly with the young men here about an issue of mutual concern.

Are we alone? Good. Now, none of us wants to die. But let's be honest with each other. There are things that we fear more than death. You know what I'm talking about.

And so, before you enlist in the Army, or if you are already in the Army, before you deploy to Afghanistan - there are alternatives to deployment - I think you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to reflect slowly and carefully on a recent study by doctors at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany - where most wounded troops are sent before returning to the U.S. - of U.S. combat injuries in Afghanistan.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Grim combat statistics that one military doctor called "unbelievable" show U.S. troops in Afghanistan suffered an unprecedented number of catastrophic injuries last year, including a tripling of amputations of more than one limb.

[...]

In 2009, 75 service members brought to Landstuhl had limbs amputated. Of those, 21 had lost more than one limb.

But in 2010, 171, 11% of all the casualties brought to Landstuhl, had undergone amputations, a much higher proportion than in past wars. Of the 171, 65 had lost more than one limb.

Injuries to the genital area were also on the increase. In 2009, 52 casualties were brought to Landstuhl with battlefield injuries to their genitals or urinary tract. In 2010, that number was 142.

Dr. John Holcomb, a retired Army colonel with extensive combat-medicine experience, said he and other doctors involved in the study were shocked by the findings, which he labeled as "unbelievable."

Just Foreign Policy News
April 6, 2011

Support the Work of Just Foreign Policy

Go Straight to the News Summary

I) Actions and Featured Articles

*Action: Urge Congress to Bar Ground Troops in Libya
Michigan Rep. John Conyers wants to explicitly prohibit U.S. ground forces from being introduced into Libya. Urge your Representative to support this prohibition. Supporters now include: Cohen, Jones, Farr, Grijalva, Honda, Kucinich, McClintock, George
Miller, Stark, Tonko, Woolsey.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/nogroundtroops

Background - Conyers: Congress Should Bar U.S. Ground Troops From Libya
For Congress to reassert its war powers requires an initiative that can attract majority support. The passage of Conyers amendment would reaffirm Congressional war powers, block an escalation to the use of ground troops in the future, and open political space for a negotiated resolution of the conflict.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/libya-ground-troops_b_844550.html

Stephen Walt: Is America Addicted to War?
The top 5 reasons why we keep getting into foolish fights.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/04/is_america_addicted_to_war

Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon: The US Base in Bahrain and the Arab Spring
The U.S. should decouple its basing arrangements from support for repressive regimes.

Just Foreign Policy News
April 4, 2011

*Action: Urge Congress to Bar Ground Troops in Libya
Michigan Rep. John Conyers wants to explicitly prohibit U.S. ground forces from being introduced into Libya. Urge your Representative to support him.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/nogroundtroops

Background - Conyers: Congress Should Bar U.S. Ground Troops From Libya
For Congress to reassert its war powers requires an initiative that can attract majority support. The passage of Conyers amendment would reaffirm Congressional war powers, block an escalation to the use of ground troops in the future, and open political space for a negotiated resolution of the conflict.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/libya-ground-troops_b_844550.html

Surprise War for Regime Change in Libya is the Wrong Path
Our contribution to a dialogue at Foreign Policy in Focus.
http://www.fpif.org/articles/surprise_war_for_regime_change_in_libya_is_the_wrong_path

Kate Gould: International Crisis Group warns against 'Cast Lead II'
The International Crisis Group warned the recent escalation of air strikes on Gaza and rocket attacks into Israel has created "the conditions for a rapid deterioration toward the kind of clash to which neither side aspires, for which both [Israel and Hamas] have carefully prepared, and from which they will not retreat quickly."

Just Foreign Policy News
April 1, 2011

*Action: Pressure Congress to Debate Libya
Whatever one thinks of the ongoing U.S. military intervention in Libya, President Obama has set a dangerous precedent by embarking on a major military operation in Libya without Congressional authorization. Eight Members of the House have brought forward H. Con. Res. 31, a bi-partisan resolution affirming that the President must obtain specific statutory authorization for the use of U.S. armed forces in Libya. Ask your Representative to join them in affirming that U.S. military action in Libya must have Congressional authorization.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/debatelibya

How Many Should Die To Send Qaddafi to the Hague?
Voters say 61-30 percent that removing Qaddafi from power is not worth having American troops "fight and possibly die" for, a Quinnipiac University poll reported. But press reports suggest that as things stand, US troops are being asked not only to "fight and possibly die" to remove Qaddafi, but to send him to the Hague; the US and Britain appear to be blocking an Italian and Turkish proposal that would allow Qaddafi to go into exile.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/01-7

Kate Gould: ICG Calls for Ceasefire, End to "Assault on Normal, Dignified Life" in Gaza, and Hamas Engagement
The International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a warning that the recent escalation of air strikes on Gaza and rocket attacks into Israel has created "the conditions for a rapid deterioration toward the kind of clash to which neither side aspires, for which both [Israel and Hamas] have carefully prepared, and from which they will not retreat quickly."