Dataset of the Day: ISAF Troop Contributing Nations

President Obama has had some tough issues to tackle during his first 100 days in office, such as a struggling economy, a poor health care system, and a Nation taking its focus off of a war in Iraq. What’s more, he has been trying to reacquire a genuine sense of confidence in the citizens of the US–the primary focus of his Presidential campaign which started with inspirational slogans such as “hope” and “change”.

In a previous Dataset of the Day: Obama’s First 100 Days, Bill Greer discussed and posted a link to our Obamameter that tracks Obama’s progress with the economy. After I spent some time digesting the realities of the economy in the Obamameter, I started thinking about the recent war in Iraq, and the impact it had on our economy, our troops, and our Nation as a whole.  I started thinking about the current 4000+reported deaths of US Troops in Iraq and Obama’s clear message he stated to leaders of the Taliban, Al-Quaida, and terrorist led organizations, “I will defeat you.”  For many people, refocusing our forces in Afghanistan and the boarder of Pakistan raises feelings of relief and concern.  It means that we may be on our way to putting an end to terrorist organizations, but it also means more combat, more lives lost, and further economic debt.

Currently in Afghanistan the NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which includes 42 troop contributing nations, aims to assist the Afghan government with security and creating a stable environment so that the country does not fall back into the governing hand of the Taliban.  Below I have created a map in Maker! which uses proportion symbols to show which countries are a part of the ISAF and the number of troops they have dispersed to the ISAF cause.

The US leads with 29,820 troops and Obama plans to send another 4000, from the 82 Airborne Division, by next fall.