I'd like to hear what Dr. Bland thinks about this, but I think it's still the case that the casualty rate for Canadians in Afghanistan is the lowest than for any conflict that Canada has fought. That's World War I, World War II, and the Korean War--by far, still.
As far as the Taliban casualties are concerned, I think talking about Taliban casualties in terms of body count is exactly the wrong way to measure success or failure in this war. And I have to say that when I do hear Canadian military officials talking in terms of the body count, I think it's the wrong message to send. I don't think it's the number of the enemy that we are or are not killing. I don't know how we can possibly know that when they remove the enemy from the battlefield. I think it's this. Are we taking and holding territory? Are we expanding the area in which the government can exercise its authority? Are we succeeding in making the place safe for reconstruction efforts? That's the way we ought to be judging success or failure in this mission.