Total number of American veterans and troops U.S. troop levels and living veterans for each war 20 million Number of U.S. troops that served in each war 15 Number of living World War II veterans over time 10 Korea veterans World War I veterans Vietnam veterans Iraq 1.1 WWII 16.1 Korea 1.8 Vietnam 2.7 WWI 4.7 million Persian Gulf 0.7 Afghanistan 0.5 1917 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 U.S. troop levels and living veterans for each war Total number of American troops and veterans over time 20 million Number of U.S. troops that served in each war 15 Number of living World War II veterans over time 10 Korea veterans World War I veterans Iraq 1.1 Vietnam veterans WWII 16.1 Korea 1.8 Vietnam 2.7 WWI 4.7 million Persian Gulf 0.7 Afghanistan 0.5 1917 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 U.S. troop levels and living veterans for each war Number of American troops and veterans 20 million U.S. troops that served in each war 15 10 Number of living WWII veterans over time Korea 1.8 Iraq 1.1 Gulf 0.7 WWI 4.7 WWII 16.1 Vietnam 2.7 Afghanistan 0.5 1917 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Total number of American troops and veterans U.S. troop levels and living veterans for each war 20 million 15 Number of U.S. troops that served in each war Number of living World War II veterans over time 10 Korea veterans World War I veterans Vietnam veterans Iraq 1.1 WWII 16.1 Korea 1.8 WWI 4.7 million Vietnam 2.7 Persian Gulf 0.7 Afghanistan 0.5 1917 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2017 Sources: U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Watson Institute Costs of War Project

In a century of American wars, no other has been rendered quite so invisible to the public. Americans don’t want to fight in Afghanistan, they don’t want to die in Afghanistan and they don’t really want to hear about Afghanistan.

Why? This war is different.

Fewer Soldiers, Fewer Veterans

Fewer American soldiers have fought in Afghanistan than any American war in the last century. At most, about 12,000 American soldiers remain there and a total of about 600,000 have rotated through there over 18 years.

That number is less than a quarter of the number who fought in Vietnam and about half the number who went to Iraq, where more soldiers fought and died in less than half of the time, increasing the visibility of their sacrifices.

Fewer troops serving means fewer veterans. Even today, the number of veterans still alive from World War II and the Vietnam War each exceed the number of Afghan war veterans.

That matters because living veterans are a potent lobbying force in keeping a war alive in the public consciousness. As the number of living veterans declined after 1946, the American sense of the presence of war as measured by veterans has steadily diminished.

In the years immediately after World War II, 15 percent of the population had recently returned from a war. Today, it is about 2 percent.

Minimizing Casualties

A big contributor to rendering the Afghanistan war invisible has been the success at minimizing deaths, particularly military deaths.

Civilian and U.S. military casualties by war 405 — U.S. soldiers killed, in thousands 671 — U.S. soldiers wounded 117 204 40,000 Civilian casualties, in thousands 58 36 4 32 193 304 2 20 38 10,000 103 0.3 0.5 2 2,700 2,000 World War I World War II Korea Gulf Iraq Afghanistan Vietnam 405 671 117 204 40,000 Total civilian casualties, in thousands 10,000 World War I World War II 58 U.S. soldiers killed, in thousands 36 304 U.S. soldiers wounded 103 2,700 2,000 Vietnam Korea 2 20 38 0.3 0.5 2 4 32 193 Gulf Iraq Afghanistan 405 671 117 204 40,000 Total civilian casualties, in thousands 10,000 World War I World War II U.S. soldiers killed, in thousands 58 36 304 U.S. soldiers wounded 103 2,700 2,000 Korea Vietnam 0.3 0.5 2 4 32 193 2 20 38 Gulf Iraq Afghanistan Casualty figures are estimates. Sources: Congressional Budget Office; U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs

A series of new military medical protocols — honed by experience in the last couple of wars and by highly advanced battlefield trauma techniques and rapid medevac capacity — has created the concept of “the golden hour.”

“The golden hour” has been astoundingly successful in saving soldiers’ lives. It emphasizes getting a wounded soldier to a trauma care facility within an hour, and immediate first aid to keep a soldier alive for that long. The result has been so successful that an American soldier was more than five times as likely to be killed in each of the first four wars of the last century than in Afghanistan.

The United States has killed civilians throughout the war, something even Afghan allies have criticized. But far fewer civilians have died in Afghanistan than in any previous war involving American forces.

A Smaller Portion of Military Spending

Afghanistan has been every bit as expensive as any war in the last 75 years, with the exception of World War II. The United States has spent about $2 trillion over 18 years — more than $100 billion a year.

But that amount is dwarfed by the overall defense budget during that period. Military spending has continued to rise, nearing its levels during World War II, even as the U.S. has reduced its involvement in Afghanistan.

U.S. yearly war-related and total defense spending $600 billion $523 billion total defense spending in 2017 400 Other defense spending Iraq 200 Iraq $27 billion spending on Afghanistan in 2017 WWII Korea Vietnam Persian Gulf Afghanistan $600 billion $523 billion total defense spending in 2017 Other defense spending 400 Iraq 200 $27 billion spending on Afghanistan in 2017 WWII Korea Vietnam Gulf Afghanistan $600 billion $523 billion total defense spending in 2017 400 Other defense spending Korea $27 billion spending on Afghanistan in 2017 200 Iraq Gulf WWI WWII Vietnam Afghanistan $600 billion $523 billion total defense spending in 2017 400 Other defense spending 200 Iraq $27 billion spending on Afghanistan in 2017 Korea Persian Gulf WWII Vietnam Afghanistan Data are adjusted for inflation and in 2018 dollars. · Sources: U.S. Dept. of Defense; Congressional Research Service; Watson Institute Costs of War Project

Much of that money has gone to expensive showcase, high-tech projects — popular with communities back home where they create jobs — like the $400 billion F-35. And foreign policy priorities have shifted to the Persian Gulf and the South China Sea, each demanding expensive naval commitments, at a time when both China and Russia are also spending heavily on projecting power and influence in new regions.

Fewer Headlines

Despite the costs, the war in Afghanistan has mostly remained in the back of the nation’s consciousness. In recent years, war was the subject of fewer front-page stories in The New York Times than any other war since World War I. After an initial spike in coverage following the Sept. 11 attacks, the war in Afghanistan rarely appeared more than once a week on the front page.

Yearly war-related front-page headlines 75 headlines 50 25 Iraq 1917-21 1941-46 1950-53 1965 1975 1990-91 2000 2018 WWI WWII Korea Vietnam Gulf Afghanistan 75 headlines 50 25 Iraq 1917-21 1941-46 1950-53 1965 1975 1990-91 2000 2018 WWI WWII Korea Vietnam Gulf Afghanistan 75 headlines 50 25 Iraq 1917-21 1941-45 1950-53 1965-75 1990-91 2000-2018 WWI WWII Korea Vietnam Gulf Afghanistan 75 headlines 50 25 Iraq WWI WWII Korea Vietnam Gulf Afghanistan

The decline in coverage is not just on The Times’s front page. Other news organizations have also covered Afghanistan less, a product of the war's length and the public’s declining interest. Many news organizations downsized their foreign bureaus in Kabul as the war continued, and most have fewer reporters there than The Times.