A calamitous end

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By the Numbers

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

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The number of days between President Joe Biden’s July 8 statement announcing an Aug. 31 deadline for the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s retaking of the capital, Kabul, on Aug. 15. With thousands of Afghan interpreters searching for a way out, the U.S. State Department’s email server for Special Immigrant Visa applications crashed after Afghans flooded the inbox with applications, according to former Washington Post intelligence and defense correspondent Jeff Stein.

2,442

The number of U.S. military fatalities suffered in the two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, according to a Brown University report.

$2.26T

The total cost of the war effort in Afghanistan for the United States.

2,500

The number of active duty military personnel serving in Afghanistan in January before President Biden announced his withdrawal plans.

20,000

The number of Afghans still in the Special Immigrant Visa application process.

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