Attention, and Danger for U.S. Troops, Shift from Iraq to Afghanistan

With President Obama marking the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night, and Afghanistan in the midst of a surge, here’s a look back at the toll both wars have taken on American combat forces:

As attention has shifted from Iraq over the past two years, the U.S. efforts in the Afghan war have seen a swell in both the number of combat troops and coalition casualties, as these figures from iCasualties.org show.

Tune in to your local PBS station Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT for special NewsHour coverage of the president’s speech, including analysis from columnists Mark Shields and David Brooks. You can also watch a livestream of the speech here on The Rundown.