92% of Marine Casualties in Afghanistan War Occurred Under Obama

October 29, 2014 - 4:28 PM

By Ali Meyer

(CNSNews.com) -- As U.S. Marines withdraw from Operation Enduring Freedom (the Afghanistan war), CNSNews.com's database on casualties shows that 418 Marines gave their lives in the conflict and that 92% of those casualties, 385 deaths, occurred since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

“U.S. Marines and service members from the United Kingdom left Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan’s Helmand province today, turning their facilities over to the Afghan security forces,” reported the Department of Defense on Oct. 27.

“We lift off confident in the Afghans’ ability to secure the region,” said Army Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson, commander of the ISAF Joint Command. “The mission has been complex, difficult and dangerous. Everyone has made tremendous sacrifices, but those sacrifices have not been in vain.”

In the more than 12 years that have passed since U.S. troops first entered Afghanistan with the aim of removing al Qaeda from its sanctuary there, 2,226 U.S. service personnel have given their lives in and around Afghanistan in support of U.S. military activities in that country. Among those, 418 soldiers, or 18.8 percent of those service personnel were U.S. Marines.

From January 20, 2009 to the end of 2009, 68 Marines died in Operation Enduring Freedom. The next year, 2010, accounted for most of the Marine casualties: 165 Marines lost their lives. In 2011, 78 Marines died; in 2012, 58 Marines died; in 2013 8 Marines died and another 8 in 2014.

This totals 385 Marine casualties, which comprises 92.1 percent of the total number of 418 Marines who died in the Afghan war.

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