(CNSNews.com)
– A majority of all combat-related U.S. casualties in the
Between Jan. 20, 2009 and July 2, 2010, according to
To see a month-by-month chart of U.S. combat casualties
There have also been 40 non-combat related U.S. casualties in
Each of the top five deadliest months of the war, accounting for
In all of 2009, there were 303 U.S. casualties (combat and
Last year, President Obama ordered an escalation in the U.S. troop
–
A majority of all combat-related U.S. casualties in the
nine-year-long war in Afghanistan have occurred since President Barack
Obama was inaugurated a little more than 17 months ago.
Between Jan. 20, 2009 and July 2, 2010, according to
CNSNews.com's database of Afghanistan war casualties, U.S. military
personnel suffered 452 combat-related deaths in Afghanistan. That
amounts to more than half of the total of 900 combat-related fatalities
suffered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan during the entire nine years
of the war.
To see a month-by-month chart of U.S. combat casualties
in Afghanistan since October 2001 click here.
There have also been 40 non-combat related U.S. casualties in
Afghanistan since Obama's inauguration, bringing the total U.S.
casualties in the country to 492 during Obama's presidency. Non-combat
fatalities include soldiers who have drowned or died from vehicle or
other accidents.
Each of the top five deadliest months of the war, accounting for
both combat and non-combat deaths, have taken place during Obama's
term. Those five months were:
1. June 2010 (59 casualties).
2. October 2009 (58 casualties).
3. August 2009 (51 deaths)
4. July 2009 (43 deaths)
5. September 2009 (37 deaths)
In all of 2009, there were 303 U.S. casualties (combat and
non-combat) in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest year of the war,
which started in October 2001. However, there were 199 U.S. casualties
reported in Afghanistan in the first half of 2010 (January through
June). That is more than double the 84 U.S. casualties that occurred in
Afghanistan during the first half of 2009.
Last year, President Obama ordered an escalation in the U.S. troop
strength in Afghanistan. As a candidate, he had vowed to shift the focus
of U.S. military operations in the Middle East from Iraq to
Afghanistan. The president's current policy is to begin withdrawing
troops from Afghanistan one year from now, in July 2011.
President Barack Obama salutes the casket of a fallen
soldier during a middle-of-the-night visit to Dover Air Force Base,
Del., on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009.
soldier during a middle-of-the-night visit to Dover Air Force Base,
Del., on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009.
About 42 percent of
all combat and non-combat U.S. deaths have taken place since May 15,
2009, the day when troops from Obama’s first surge arrived in
Afghanistan.
Speaking at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Dec. 2, 2009,
Obama announced the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and
said that in July 2011 he would begin withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan “taking into account conditions on the ground.”
Since then, the president has maintained his policy that a drawdown will
begin in July 2011, emphasizing that the date will mark the beginning
of a transition “process” where tasks will be transferred to the Afghan
government and its security forces.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S.-led NATO forces in
Afghanistan, testified
before Congress that the July 2011 drawdown date had not been
recommended by him or any other military commander that he was aware
of but that he agreed with it.
CNSNews.com’s casualty
count is derived primarily from U.S. Defense Department casualty
reports, but it also includes information gleaned from the news media
The count includes all U.S. military personnel who died or received
fatal wounds in Afghanistan or Pakistan. It does not include U.S.
soldiers who died outside of those two countries while supporting
military efforts against terrorism under Operation Enduring Freedom,
which includes multiple countries.
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