ICASUALTIES.ORG KEEPS TALLY IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
Michael White
Traffic on the site has dropped by at least half since the days of the surge  when the conduct of the war in Iraq was an issue in the 2008 presidential election. Now the site gets about 25 000 to 35 000 unique visitors a day  White says.
 Also  donations have dried up -- less than $1 000  far short of the costs and down from $8 000 to $10 000 in a typical year. And no more people volunteer to enter the data and free White to improve the design of the site.
 In part  White says he keeps updating the information on the site because it is a calling  an obligation he wants to see through until the war ends. Ultimately  he would like to create a more permanent record of what he has compiled  maybe even publish a book.
 There is another reason: People are counting on him -- reporters  that is.
 White says he wanted to offer the public a way to assess independently the progress of the war:
 White points to 2006 as the year when journalists felt confident enough to use iCasualties' data as their own. "I had three years of doing it " he said. "I was not just somebody out there doing a blog  but I took the time to build a database  to build  I don't know what the word is  my own journalistic standards before putting it out there."
 While White says he gets fewer calls for detailed data analysis -- deaths  say  by improvised-explosive device in a certain province of Iraq -- the site's figures are being used more routinely. A Nexis search would seem to bear this out  with more citations in last six months (842 articles) than in all of 2009 (795)  even as news coverage from Iraq and Afghanistan is declining. (The New York Times has quoted the site 82 times since 2004  including 27 times in 2010.)
 These days  White finds himself more frequently in the role of media critic. He says he is continually amazed at how little attention the war in Afghanistan has generated.
 "We had 50 U.S. deaths in Afghanistan last month  and we are on course for 50 deaths this month  but it is not talked about " White said. "It is not on the nightly news." He refers to his tables to finds months when a similar total of American troops were killed in Iraq  and it was big news.
 "If it was in Iraq  it would be on the news " he said.
 He concedes that he was slow to recognize the war in Afghanistan. But with the drawdown of United States troops in Iraq and the transfer of troops to Afghanistan  iCasualties' focus has shifted. "Afghanistan was the redheaded stepchild of what I did " White said. "Now Iraq is."
it was in Iraq  it would be on the news " he said.
 He concedes that he was slow to recognize the war in Afghanistan. But with the drawdown of United States troops in Iraq and the transfer of troops to Afghanistan  iCasualties' focus has shifted. "Afghanistan was the redheaded stepchild of what I did " White said. "Now Iraq is."
 His work may be more about trying to keep the events there in the public eye  a form of bearing witness. Shortly after a telephone interview with a reporter  he forwarded an e-mail he said he received last week  "My kid's in Kandahar Province and I rely upon your website to keep up with current data " the e-mail reads.
 White may be carrying a clipboard and a calculator  but he is still looking for the bodies.
Traffic on the site has dropped by at least half since the days of the surge  when the conduct of the war in Iraq was an issue in the 2008 presidential election. Now the site gets about 25 000 to 35 000 unique visitors a day  [TGT] says.
 Also  donations have dried up -- less than $1 000  far short of the costs and down from $8 000 to $10 000 in a typical year. And no more people volunteer to enter the data and free [TGT] to improve the design of the site.
 In part  [TGT] says [TGT] keeps updating the information on the site because it is a calling  an obligation [TGT] wants to see through until the war ends. Ultimately  [TGT] would like to create a more permanent record of what [TGT] has compiled  maybe even publish a book.
 There is another reason: People are counting on [TGT] -- reporters  that is.
 [TGT] says [TGT] wanted to offer the public a way to assess independently the progress of the war:
 White points to 2006 as the year when journalists felt confident enough to use iCasualties' data as their own. "I had three years of doing it " [TGT] said. "I was not just somebody out there doing a blog  but I took the time to build a database  to build  I don't know what the word is  my own journalistic standards before putting it out there."
 While [TGT] says [TGT] gets fewer calls for detailed data analysis -- deaths  say  by improvised-explosive device in a certain province of Iraq -- the site's figures are being used more routinely. A Nexis search would seem to bear this out  with more citations in last six months (842 articles) than in all of 2009 (795)  even as news coverage from Iraq and Afghanistan is declining. (The New York Times has quoted the site 82 times since 2004  including 27 times in 2010.)
 These days  [TGT] finds [TGT] more frequently in the role of media critic. [TGT] says [TGT] is continually amazed at how little attention the war in Afghanistan has generated.
 "We had 50 U.S. deaths in Afghanistan last month  and we are on course for 50 deaths this month  but it is not talked about [TGT] said. "It is not on the nightly news." [TGT] refers to [TGT] tables to finds months when a similar total of American troops were killed in Iraq  and it was big news.
 "If it was in Iraq  it would be on the news " [TGT] said.
 [TGT] concedes that [TGT] was slow to recognize the war in Afghanistan. But with the drawdown of United States troops in Iraq and the transfer of troops to Afghanistan  iCasualties' focus has shifted. "Afghanistan was the redheaded stepchild of what I did " [TGT] said. "Now Iraq is."
it was in Iraq  it would be on the news " he said.
 He concedes that he was slow to recognize the war in Afghanistan. But with the drawdown of United States troops in Iraq and the transfer of troops to Afghanistan  iCasualties' focus has shifted. "Afghanistan was the redheaded stepchild of what I did " [TGT] said. "Now Iraq is."
 His work may be more about trying to keep the events there in the public eye  a form of bearing witness. Shortly after a telephone interview with a reporter  he forwarded an e-mail he said he received last week  "My kid's in Kandahar Province and I rely upon your website to keep up with current data " the e-mail reads.
 [TGT] may be carrying a clipboard and a calculator  but [TGT] is still looking for the bodies.