18 CIA Operatives Have Died in Afghanistan: Report

Eighteen. It's a number the New York Times says hasn't been reported until now, and the number you'd arrive at by counting select chiseled stars in a wall at the CIA HQ in Langley, Va. It represents the number of CIA operatives killed in Afghanistan since 9/11, and the Times provides context: It's "a tally ... that rivals the number of CIA operatives killed in the wars in Vietnam and Laos nearly a half century ago." 

It sees the count as a reflection of the heavy sacrifice the agency has made in Afghanistan over the past 16 years as well as the agency's creep toward the front lines. These are not men who are easily replaced. Many were part of the CIA's paramilitary force, the Special Activities Division, including the two whose July 14 funeral anchors the Times' account.

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