In the single-most deadly attack on American forces since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, 31 American military personnel have been killed in an apparent missile attack on a chopper. Among the dead were 25 of the elite Navy SEALs fighting force, six other American troops, and seven Afghan personnel.

Early in the morning of August 6, a surface-to-air missile is believed to have been fired into an American Chinook helicopter, causing it to crash in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The National Journal reported that 31 American military personnel, including 25 Navy SEALs, were killed in the deadliest single-day attack on American forces since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001.

The Taliban were quick to take credit for the downed chopper. The U. S.-led coalition issued a statement noting that there had been increased hostile activity in the area of the shootdown and the exact circumstances of the downed craft was under investigation. However, officials believe that a surface-to-air missile was used in the incident.

At least 38 individuals were killed. Besides the 31 Americans, seven Afghan personnel were reportedly killed as well.

The National Journal reported that none of the deceased Navy SEALs appear to have been among the contingent that stormed Osama bin Laden's compound in May.

The news comes in the wake of increasing pressure on the Obama administration by the Left and the Right to do something about the increasingly drawn-out, expensive, and deadly war in Afghanistan. Not only are criticisms coming from Democrats and liberals to end the seemingly counterproductive and aimless war, but there is increasing pressure from Republicans and conservatives to trim the fiscal budgets (and defense spending in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been glaring examples of seeming needless expenditures) as well. In a Pew Research Center poll released in June, the American public also want American troops out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, the first time a poll has suggested such a move.

The deaths of so many Americans in a single incident will undoubtedly reinforce sentiments that the conflict in Afghanistan, at least as far as American involvement is concerned, should end.

In an effort to assuage American public opinion, and against the advice of many of his military advisors, President Obama announced earlier this year that 10,000 troops would be removed from Afghanistan by year's end, with an additional 23,000 being removed by September 2012. At present, there are 90,000 American troops in country as part of the NATO coalition, which numbers 132,000.

As of August 6, the United States had seen 1,725 troops killed in the conflict, with the total number of annual killed rising every year since 2006. Last year, 499 Americans were killed in the nation that has been given the nickname "Graveyard of Empires" because of the attritional effects the country and its peoples have traditionally had on invading armies and occupiers.

Operation Enduring Freedom is the longest American war in its history. The United States will have been engaged in Afghanistan for ten years in October.
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