Current Conflict In Afghanistan Research Articles

CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN AFGHANISTAN. DO THEORIES WORK IN PRACTICE?

The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan poses a great danger to the Afghanistan state itself as well as for the neighboring countries. A decreasing interest from the United States of America, NATO and other key players due to a long war and other geopolitical challenges will leave Afghanistan with the minimum outer support for the future. The science of conflict resolution is offering a variety of theories that could lead endless wars and conflicts to an end. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is challenging those theories, while the resolution is crucial for the Afghanistan people right now. But are those theories reflected in the current actions of the US, NATO and Afghanistan governments? And do those theoretical actions lead to a better future regarding conflict resolution? The purpose of this article was to analyze the current policies of third parties influencing the current conflict in Afghanistan to determine the most relevant conflict prevention theory that could support conflict resolution most effectively in the future. To achieve the mentioned purpose, the following tasks were designed. First, the most relevant conflict prevention theories, applicable to the Afghanistan case, were analyzed and the main characteristics were identified. Secondly, the actions of NATO, US and Afghanistan, connected to the conflict resolution efforts, were identified and analyzed. After that, actions mentioned above were compared with theoretical approaches from different theories and certain trends were detected. Later on, research was focused to detect particular elements that were relevant to each theory and further actions concentrated on identifying the trend of these elements for each theory, while doing a comparative comparison analysis, which was based on selected timeframes. Afterward, the trends for each theory were compared and – by doing this – the most applicable theory was identified that could be later used in practice to resolve the current conflict. Research showed that:All conflict prevention theories showed that resolution is possible only if all parties are involved in the processes and practically commit to actions. Currently this is not the case in Afghanistan.Some conflict resolution theories consider similar actions that currently the NATO, US and Afghanistan governments are using in the region.One of the analyzed conflict resolution theories could be applied practically in the Afghanistan case. The conflict prevention theory is the most flexible and has the widest action set in comparison with other theories.The conflict prevention theory reflects the current US actions in Afghanistan, when the decreasing US support for the Afghanistan government in security, governance and in other sectors influences the weakening security situation. The effectiveness of conflict prevention theory is low due to the Taliban’s absence in the negotiations, and this fact does not influence any recognition that the most relevant theory that could support current conflict resolution in the most effective way in Afghanistan is the conflict prevention theory.

Prehospital interventions in severely injured pediatric patients: Rethinking the ABCs.

The current conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in a high volume of significantly injured pediatric patients. The austere environment has demanded emphasis on prehospital interventions (PHIs) to sustain casualties during transport. The Department of Defense Trauma Registry was queried for all pediatric patients (≤18 years) treated at Camp Bastion from 2004 to 2012. PHIs were grouped by Advanced Trauma Life Support categories into (1) airway (A)--intubation or surgical airway; 2) breathing (B)--chest tube or needle thoracostomy; and 3) circulation (C)--tourniquet or hemostatic dressing. Outcomes were assessed based on injury severity, hemodynamics, blood products and fluids, as well as mortality rates. There were 766 injured children identified with 20% requiring one or more PHIs, most commonly circulation (C, 51%) followed by airway (A, 40%) and breathing (B, 8.7%). The majority of C interventions were tourniquets (85%) and hemostatic dressings (15%). Only 38% of patients with extremity vascular injury or amputation received a C intervention, with a significant reduction in blood products and intravenous fluids associated with receiving a C PHI (both p < 0.05). A interventions consisted of endotracheal intubation for depressed mental status (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score < 8). Among patients with traumatic brain injury, A interventions were associated with higher unadjusted mortality (56% vs. 20%, p < 0.01) and remained independently associated with increased mortality after multivariate adjustment (odds ratio, 5.9; p = 0.001). B interventions were uncommon and performed in only 2% of patients with no recorded adverse outcomes. There is a high incidence of PHIs among pediatric patients with severe wartime injuries. The most common and effective were C PHI for hemorrhage control, which should remain a primary focus of equipment and training. A interventions were most commonly performed in the setting of severe traumatic brain injury but were associated with worse outcomes. B interventions seem safe and effective and may be underused. Care management/therapeutic study, level IV.

Predicting Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence Among Post-9/11 College Student Veterans.

The current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq present unique risk factors for military personnel that increase the likelihood of psychological distress and concomitant consequences related to trauma. Several studies have found that the stress brought about by financial difficulties, unemployment, and the need to renegotiate roles and responsibilities with spouses following discharge increases the likelihood of relationship strain and even intimate partner violence in the veteran population. This study was undertaken to determine the challenges related to maintaining healthy relationships for college student veterans who have served in the armed forces since September 11, 2001. Psychological distress, substance use, and hypermasculine attitudes were explored as risk factors for intimate violence. Social support was found to be a protective buffer against psychological aggression. However, approximately a third of college student veterans reported low social support along with symptoms of distress, placing them at elevated risk of partner abuse. The current article explores models for predicting risk of perpetrating aggression in college student veterans and concludes that culturally tailored programs and services are needed.

What the QDR Ought to Say about Landpower

ABSTRACT: The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) will have been completed as of this writing, but will not yet have been published. Facing new strategic priorities and mounting fiscal pressures, it is anticipated that capacity or size of American landpower will be substantially reduced: Army's end strength could be decremented to a post-World War II low of just 420,000 to 450,000 soldiers. This article considers implications of such reductions. ********** The US Department of Defense (DOD) faces numerous challenges today as it updates US defense strategy in light of a dynamic security environment and significant resource constraints. The QDR affords landpower strategists an excellent opportunity to step back and think about future. As former Pentagon strategist Shawn Brimley wrote, With wars ending, budgets declining, technology proliferating, and other powers rising, a real of opportunity to reshape US defense strategy has opened for first time since end of Cold War. (1) However, that window also brings with it great risk. Documents like National Intelligence Council's 2030 report or Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Operating Environment suggest United States must have balanced and versatile forces able to accomplish a wide variety of missions. Urgency is needed to create greater Joint adaptability and versatility to cope with uncertainty and complexity. Although niche capabilities will still be needed, a balanced force design is basis for adaptation and operational flexibility. Landpower and Joint Force 2020 Landpower's role in 21st century was studied by a task force commissioned by US Army, US Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command. This effort produced a concept paper delineating what landpower brings to fight, and emphasizes achieving influence in human domain and winning clash of wills inherent in human conflict. (2) It argues, persuasively, that the importance of conflict prevention and ability to shape conditions in regions to maintain stability through actions highly focused on human factors is also rising in significance. (3) The interplay of human and moral factors in war is something Clausewitz stressed, but which modern strategists might deemphasize or inadvertently overlook. (4) The role of landpower is questioned in some quarters: it is equated to protracted counterinsurgency tasks and portrayed as expensive. Some critics think of Arm), and Marines solely in terms of current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and hope to opt out of such messianic missions and nation-building tasks. But after a decade of irregular war, contributions made by Army, Marines, and Special Operations Forces (SOF) should not be narrowly defined by last decade or exaggerated concerns about endless wars. American landpower capabilities have been broadened and deepened by a decade of sacrifice and adaptation. The tremendous learning curve and combat experience of last decade has produced a very flexible force, and United States must retain best of that leadership, experience, and lessons. We should not seek to refight last war, nor should we recoil from a ruthlessly realistic appreciation for world as it is rather than what we hope it may become. As noted by Major General H. R. McMaster: ... in Afghanistan and Iraq, planning did not account for adaptability and initiatives by enemy. American forces, deployed initially in insufficient numbers to keep pace with evolution of those conflicts, struggled to maintain security. The lesson: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, like all wars, were contests of will that unleashed dynamics that made future events impossible to predict. Fortunately, American forces adapted. (5) The US military has not yet studied or drawn adequate lessons about factors that facilitated this adaptation. …

Trauma research 2012

Although trauma remains a significant contributor to the global burden of disease, trauma research remains uncoordinated and often of low quality. Research efforts aiming to improve trauma care are drastically underfunded and global research strategies to address core challenges are missing [1,2]. The responsibility for this state lies partially within the trauma academic community and efforts to coordinate research programmes are called for. It was therefore very welcome that Professor Karim Brohi chaired a session dedicated to trauma research on the final day of the London trauma conference 2012. The session included speakers describing activity organised by UK research centres. A common theme was how the establishment of trauma networks offers new research opportunities [3]. The trauma system has the potential to facilitate robust epidemiological and public health research necessary for evidence-based system revisions. Further, formal trauma networks bridge the gap between clinical and basic science research. Pending clearly defined relationships, the trauma networks also facilitate cooperation with the medical industry to make quality improvement initiatives more effective. London is the worlds largest single trauma system and it provides opportunities for robust data collection from the scene of injury throughout rehabilitation. Such data may facilitate long-awaited high quality observational studies and randomized controlled trials on both primary and secondary preventive measures. Contemporary trauma research is heavily influenced by the current conflict in Afghanistan. Increased military funding has enabled studies to be performed on many aspects of trauma care from pre-hospital interventions to rehabilitation several of which were described in this session. Although the populations differ with respect to age, gender and co-morbidities, some data collected from the battlefield are considered transferable to the civilian community. A feasibility study of using rotational thromboelastometry to assess coagulation status of combat casualties in a deployed setting provides an example of how military research brings science to the front line [4]. Further, the high number of soldiers returning with lost limbs has initiated research programs into reconstructive challenges. As Western involvement in the Afghanistan conflict draws to an end, the destiny of military funded trauma research remains uncertain. Civilian and military clinicians share interests in unresolved challenges pertaining to areas such as nerve tissue damage and coagulation. Hypothesis on whether minor head injury can prime inflammation in the brain that may lead to neurodegenerative diseases are currently being investigated. Further, studies on neuroprotective agents for brain and spinal cord injury aims to reduce the morbidity that traumatic brain injury carries. Neuroprotection is also an essential component to improve outcome after peripheral injury. Ongoing studies of reconstruction of nerve conduction through pharmacological intervention shows promising results [5]. Lastly, haemorrhage is a major cause of trauma deaths and translational research on coagulopathy, transfusion and pro-coagulant therapies is currently conducted on several centres. High-achieving research groups rely on not only support from within their own institution but, interdisciplinary relations as well as national and international networks. These interfaces serve to improve quality and recruit financial and human resources. Research decision-makers are required to map out the need to establish new centres or where it is more cost-effective to tap into existing research clusters. Regardless, the importance of networks was exemplified in trials such as the DRAFFT-study on distal radius fractures, where inclusion rates where good [6]. Lessons can also be learned from areas such as critical care where several randomised controlled trials on core topics such as sepsis have been conducted. However, research on time-critical emergencies remains a challenge as they deviate from planned and organized environments. High-quality data is a prerequisite to conduct high-quality trials. Optimal data collection involves automatic linkage between databases and bulk uploads to registries such as The UK Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN). Areas for improvements in data collection include minimizing manual data collection and enabling research nurses to attend trauma meetings. Cancer registries serve as role models with their long tradition for providing reliable and valid data. The day ended with updates on large, on-going trials such as CRASH 3 [7] and CRYOSTAT [8]. Hopefully, robust international trauma networks will, in the future, attract investment funding in trauma research. Our patients deserve trials with rapid recruitment timelines with greater capacity and diversity to make an impact on clinical practice and improve outcome.

Blast injury to the perineum

Recent military operations have resulted in a small but significant number of military personnel suffering severe perineal injuries. In association with lower limb amputation and pelvic fracture, this complex is...

Health Hazards of Exposures During Deployment to War

This article serves as an introduction to the history of military environmental exposures, both man-made and naturally occurring. It also discusses exposure hazards of concern to US military members who have served in armed conflict in the past 40+ years. A review of the literature of the historic exposure concerns as well as those of the recent and current conflicts. In recognition that there have been no significant compilations of articles regarding exposure hazards and concerns faced by US Service members returning from the recent and current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, this dedicated issue of the Journal contains 14 such papers. This articles provides a brief overview of these reports. Environmental exposure hazards during deployment to conflict are not new. Concerns about these exposures are not new. Many conflicts have similar, if not identical exposures of concern, but also often have some that are unique to the particular conflict. In 2001 the Department of Veterans Affairs established a new program to address some of these concerns of Veterans.

Introduction

Introduction Wayne A. Rebhorn and Frank Whigham In the academic year 2009-10, the English Department of the University of Texas at Austin inaugurated the first Texas Institute for Literary and Textual Studies. The institute was made possible through the generous support of university president Bill Powers, who named the department a "priority department" and awarded it a substantial Excellence Fund. We owe him a great debt of gratitude, as we do to the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Randy Diehl, and the chair of the English Department, Elizabeth Cullingford. The institute was run by Professors Wayne A. Rebhorn and Frank Whigham as codirectors, assisted by a hardworking faculty committee, including J. K. Barret, Mary Blockley, Douglas Bruster, James Loehlin, Eric Mallin, John Rumrich, and Hannah Wojciehowski, as well as by a fine graduate assistant, Sara Saylor. We would also like to thank Professor Kurt Heinzelman, the editor of Texas Studies in Literature and Language, for devoting a special issue of the journal to this collection of essays. We chose literature and religious conflict in the English Renaissance as the topic for the first year of the Texas Institute for Literary and Textual Studies because of the prominence religious conflict has acquired now both in the United States and around the globe, ranging from 9/11 and subsequent Al Qaeda attacks to the Chinese repression of the Falun Gong, the international split of the Anglican/Episcopalian confession over ordaining gay bishops, continuing harsh debates in the United States about abortion, and our current conflict in Afghanistan. The stakes can be very high. In this context, recent scholarship on English literature has turned to a new engagement with its own earlier experience of violent religious conflict—the complex and often violent struggle we now know as the Protestant Reformation, and its complicated and often horrific aftermath, which occupied the better part of the next century and a half. From 1517, when Luther posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, to the last gasp of the English Civil War, when the Stuart line was restored to the throne in 1660, the age was defined as much by the fierceness of its religious debates, persecution, and warfare as it was by its interest in recovering the classical past, its exploration of the New World, or the great achievements of Leonardo, Michelangelo, or [End Page 1] Shakespeare. In England, Henry VIII's severance of the English church from Roman Catholic hierarchy, which led many to the stake, including Sir Thomas More, was followed immediately by the rebellions known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, for which over two hundred people were executed. The guardians of Henry's son, the child-king Edward VI, pressed the new religion much farther than Henry had, and when the boy died, Henry's elder daughter Mary I sought to restore Catholicism as the state religion in 1553, and in six years burned some 290 English reformers (more than were recorded as burned in any continental Catholic country). Soon after this radicalizing slaughter Mary died, and in 1559 the new queen Elizabeth I secured a settlement that seemed for a time to establish a peaceful via media for English Christians. Yet within a short time there came Spain's horrific repression of the Protestant Dutch revolt in the Low Countries (1568), a rebellion of English Catholics (1569), the papal excommunication of the queen (1570), the inflammatory St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants in France (1572), and a series of Catholic assassination plots against Elizabeth. Those plots culminated in the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 and the attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Some 190 Catholics were executed during the course of Elizabeth's supposedly more tolerant reign. The new century and the reign of James I began with the notorious Guy Fawkes plot of 1605, when Catholic conspirators sought to blow up the king and all of Parliament with a cellar full of gunpowder. King James is now chiefly remembered for his claims to pacifism and the Bible translation he commissioned, but he propagated royal policies that pushed both anti-Catholic and anti-Puritan antipathies measurably...

Fighting in Thin Air: Operational Wilderness Medicine in High Asia

The current conflict in Afghanistan is the first major military action in which the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces have found themselves regularly engaged in combat at high altitudes. However, high altitude warfare is not a new concept in Asia by any means. This article will offer a short general historical review of high altitude warfare in Asia and then specifically address some of the operational challenges faced by troops carrying out missions at high altitude in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Additionally, there will be discussion of evidence-based interventions being used to attempt to maintain optimal health of the warfighter at high altitude in this theater of operations. Years of research into how to alleviate the problematic nature of military operations in the high altitude environment has resulted in extensive risk management recommendations from the US Army, specifically aimed at preventing altitude-related casualties.

Military nutrition: maintaining health and rebuilding injured tissue

Food and nutrition are fundamental to military capability. Historical examples demonstrate that a failure to supply adequate nutrition to armies inevitably leads to disaster; however, innovative measures to overcome difficulties in feeding reap benefits, and save lives. In barracks, UK Armed Forces are currently fed according to the relatively new Pay As You Dine policy, which has attracted criticism from some quarters. The recently introduced Multi-Climate Ration has been developed specifically to deal with issues arising from Iraq and the current conflict in Afghanistan. Severely wounded military personnel are likely to lose a significant amount of their muscle mass, in spite of the best medical care. Nutritional support is unable to prevent this, but can ameliorate the effects of the catabolic process. Measuring and quantifying nutritional status during critical illness is difficult. A consensus is beginning to emerge from studies investigating the effects of nutritional interventions on how, what and when to feed patients with critical illness. The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking research to address specific concerns related to nutrition as well as seeking to promote healthy eating in military personnel.

Prevalence of Late Amputations During the Current Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

During the current conflicts, over 950 soldiers have sustained a combat-related amputation. The majority of these are acute, but an unknown number are performed months to years after the initial injury. The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of late amputations in our combat wounded. Electronic medical records and radiographs of all soldiers who had a combat-related, lower extremity injury that resulted in amputation were reviewed to confirm demographic, injury, and amputation information. Time to amputation was defined as a late amputation when it occurred more than 12 weeks following the date of injury. There were 348 major limb amputees that met inclusion criteria. Fifty-three (15.2%) amputees had a late amputation (range = 12 wk-5.5 yr). While the majority of combat-related amputations occur acutely, more than 15% occur late. This study demonstrates that further research is needed to identify predictive factors and outcomes of the late amputation.

Biblical Faith and Paths of Peace

Abstract: As well as providing statistics and information about current military conflict and inhumane weaponry, this article brings a biblical perspective to bear on the contemporary realities of peace and conflict. In the face of the most violent century on record (the twentieth century) and the unrelenting advancement of contemporary military technological development, the author argues that it is a mistake to privilege the narrow just war / pacifist polarity. In using it as the interpretive framework for understanding the multifaceted issues of human conflict, we tend to subvert a larger and more constructive engagement with the challenge of armed conflict and its resolution. Calvin's unremarkable adherence to the just war theory does not offer a contribution to contemporary peace-building. However, his anthropology, rooted in the positioning of humanity in relationship to the living God, can provide a theological undergirding for current peace-building approaches, including in the current conflict in Afghanistan.

Return to Duty Rate of Amputee Soldiers in the Current Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of amputee soldiers who sustained their injury during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and have returned to duty. In addition, the authors plan to identify the factors that influence the amputee's likelihood to return to duty. The computerized records of amputee soldiers who presented to the Physical Evaluation Board between October 1, 2001 and June 1, 2006 were reviewed. This data were crossreferenced with the Military Amputee Database. The following variables were extracted: age, gender, pay grade, amputation level, and final disposition. During the period reviewed, there were 395 major limb amputees that met inclusion criteria. Of those, 65 returned to active duty (16.5%). The average age of amputees returning to duty was more than 4 years older than those who separated from the service (31.4 vs. 27.2), p < 0.0001. Officers and senior enlisted personnel returned to duty at a higher rate (35.3% and 25.5%, respectively) when compared with junior enlisted personnel (7.0%), p < 0.0001. Those with multiple extremity amputations have the lowest return to duty rate at 3%, when compared with the overall return to duty rate for single extremity amputees (20%), p < 0.0001. During the 1980s, 11 of 469 amputees returned to active duty (2.3%). The number of amputees returning to duty has increased significantly, from 2.3% to 16.5%, due to advancements in combat casualty care and the establishment of centralized amputee centers.

Introduction: Military neurosurgery, past and present

For a physician has the worth of many other warriors, both for the excision of arrows and for the administration of soothing drugs. Homer, Iliad XI.514-515 Ever since armed conflict has been used as a means to settle disputes among men, there have been those who have been tasked to mend the wounds that ravage a soldier's body from the weapons of war. The Iliad portrays the pivotal 10th year of the legendary Trojan War, during which a schism in the Greek leadership prolongs the extended siege of the city of Troy. In the midst of this martial epic come the lines quoted above, quietly attesting to the value of the military physician, even under the crude conditions of the Greek Dark Age. They are uttered by Idomeneus, one of the foremost Greeks, when he is enjoining one of his comrades, Nestor, to rescue the injured Greek physician Machaon and take him back from the line to treat his wounds. He is afraid that Machaon will be captured by the Trojans, a loss far greater than that of any other single warrior. Duty to country has helped shape the careers of many neurosurgeons, including iconic US figures such as Harvey Cushing and Donald Matson. This issue of Neurosurgical Focus celebrates the rich history of military neurosurgery from the wars of yesterday to the conflicts of today. We have been humbled by the tremendous response to this topic. The 25 articles within this issue will provide the reader with both a broad and an in-depth look at the many facets of military neurosurgery. We have attempted to group articles based on their predominant topic. We also encourage our audience to read other recently published articles. The first 8 articles relate to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The lead article, written by Randy Bell and colleagues from the National Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, discusses what is arguably one of the most important contributions by military neurosurgeons from these 2 conflicts: the rapid and aggressive use of decompressive craniectomies. This is followed by articles on decompressive craniectomy techniques by Ragel and colleagues and cranioplasty outcomes by Stephens and colleagues. After reading these articles, the reader will come away with an appreciation of the often complex nature of wartime penetrating and closed-head injuries and the remarkable recovery that many injured soldiers make with time.

Treating Pain on the Battlefield: A Warrior’s Perspective

The current conflicts in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom; commenced October 2001) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom; commenced March 2003) have been remarkable due to the more than 90% survival rate among wounded warriors. Although this statistic is a historic achievement by the military's medical services, other medical issues have taken on greater emphasis as more casualties from war survive than ever before. Pain management of United States wounded, in particular, has been a medical issue of increasing importance, as modern understanding of the detrimental effects of pain on recovery and rehabilitation becomes clearer. In this review, a warrior's perspective of military pain management is explored and potential for improvement discussed.

Regional Anaesthesia and Analgesia on the Front Line

Deployment to a combat zone with the military poses many challenges to the anaesthetist. One of these challenges is the safe, rapid and comfortable initial wound management and repatriation of wounded combat soldiers to their home country or tertiary treatment facility for definitive care and rehabilitation. The current conflict in Afghanistan is associated with injury patterns that differ from wars such as Vietnam or Korea. This report describes the experience of an Australian military anaesthetist and the value of regional anaesthesia and analgesia for the care of the wounded combat soldier

Psychological Effects of Deployments on Military Families

CME Educational Objectives 1. Identify stressors that occur among spouses of about-to-be deployed service members. 2. Identify perceived barriers, among spouses, to mental healthcare. 3. Identify the levels of depression and stress that occur among spouses of about-to-be deployed service members.

Amputations in U.S. Military Personnel in the Current Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

Amputations in U.S. Military Personnel in the Current Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

Amputations in U.S. Military Personnel in the Current Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

To determine rates of major limb amputation in U.S. military casualties in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, to correlate these with mechanism of injury, and compare the rate with that seen in U.S. casualties from the Vietnam War. Retrospective study of all U.S. casualties recorded for the current conflicts from the start in October 1, 2001 to June 1, 2006. Records from U.S. military forward surgical teams (Level IIb) and combat support hospitals (Level III) in theater, evacuation (Level IV, Germany), and major military medical centers (Level V, United States). All recorded U.S. military casualties from the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters with injuries requiring evacuation out of theater or prohibiting the individual from returning to duty for more than 72 hours. None. Major limb injury, level of amputation, principal mechanism of injury. Over the past 56 months, of the 8058 military casualties meeting the listed criteria, 5684 (70.5%) were recorded as having major limb injuries. Of these, 423 (5.2% of all serious injuries; 7.4% of major limb injuries) underwent major limb amputation or amputation at or proximal to the wrist or ankle joint. The mechanism of injury for 87.9% was some form of explosive device. The major amputation rate during Vietnam was 8.3% of major limb injuries. Overall, major limb amputation rates for the current U.S. engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq are similar to those of previous conflicts.

Why Just War Needs Feminism Now More Than Ever

This article notes the just war tradition's difficulty adapting to 21st century warfare, its susceptibility to political appropriation, its lack of conceptual clarity, and its blindness to the gender subordination inherent in its theoretical assumptions. Still, just war theory cannot be discarded — it is a ‘necessary evil,’ due to both its popularity in political discourse and the necessity of having a framework for ethical analysis of war. This article proposes a feminist reinterpretation of just war theory as the revitalization that just war theory needs. It explains this feminist just war theory based on relational autonomy, political marginality, empathy, and care. It introduces some feminist ‘standards’ for considering the morality of war. After brief applicatory explorations into the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, it concludes by arguing that the added normative strength and explanatory power coming from a feminist perspective is something just war theory sorely needs, now more than ever.