As the U.S. military has significantly stepped up its use of airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Garlasco has tracked every bomb, noting their effectiveness and their potential for killing the innocent. The United States increased its use of aerial bombs in Iraq by more than 500 percent from 2006 to 2007 and dropped more than 20 times as many bombs on Afghanistan last year as it did just a few years ago.

That increase, part of a strategy by U.S. commanders who want to attack enemies in areas they have controlled for years, has made Garlasco’s work all the more relevant. And his previous work on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff has given him a level of credibility and a voice that few human rights activists have. He can call up officers in the Air Force’s secret facility in Southeast Asia and can walk up to U.S. command posts in Afghanistan to learn what is being done.