US counts enemy dead and it’s not reassuring

The armed forces seem to be reassuring themselves that the violence they inflict — and the violence the enemy inflicts in return — is definitely worth it, according to David Axe

Earlier this month, a reporter asked the question that usually comes up when the US gets involved in a sustained military campaign. Just how many enemy troops — in this case, Islamic State foot soldiers — have US forces killed in more than five months of aerial attacks?

The military’s answer was basically the same given to all similar questions going back more than a decade. Counting the dead is “not the goal”, said Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby, a Navy admiral.