A chilling note on which to end the year: After a bomb killed a U.S. service member in Afghanistan on Sunday, the number of U.S. troops deaths in Afghanistan in 2009 have doubled the 2008 figure. In 2009, there were 310 American troops that died in Afghanistan, compared to 155 in 2008. The increase in casualties is due in part to a new influx of troops and is expected to continue to rise as more troops arrive in Afghanistan in 2010. 2009 is already the deadliest year so far of the Afghanistan war.
