Obama's Watch: 90% of 20K Total U.S. Warriors Wounded in Afghanistan War 

by Edwin Mora

Oct 7, 2014 9:25 PM PT

At least 17,316 American soldiers have been wounded in the Afghanistan war theater since Obama was inaugurated for his first term, according to a count maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).  

Overall, according to the Pentagon, 20,017 United State troops have been wounded in action (WIA) since Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began 13 years ago today.  

OEF is the official name of the Afghanistan war theater, which also involves military operations in Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.  

Most, just about all, OEF-related activity has taken place in Afghanistan.  

An estimated 90 percent of all the soldiers who have been wounded in the Afghanistan theater received their injuries after Obama was sworn into office for his first term on January 20, 2009.  

Restrictive Rules of Engagement (ROA) in combination with other aspects of Obama's military strategy have been accused of fueling a rise in fatalities and injuries in Afghanistan since the president took office. 

The number of troops wounded in action has increased dramatically in the time that Obama has been president — from 2,701 during the eight years of the previous administration to 20,017 now.  

DOD’s count of wounded heroes is not broken up by days, so Breitbart News began the injured soldiers tally on Obama’s watch from the beginning of February 2009, eleven days after he was inaugurated for his first term on January 20 of that year. 

Breitbart News’ count of 17,316 injuries under Obama’s watch covers the period of February 2009 through September 2014.  

According to the Pentagon, the most common wounds are caused by some form of explosion involving land mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). 

Those injuries often lead to amputations. 

A February 2014 report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS)  revealed that as of the end of 2013, a total of 762 “major limb” amputations were traced to the Afghanistan theater. 

Those amputations include “the loss of one or more limbs, the loss of one or more partial limbs, or the loss of one or more full or partial hand or foot.”  

The majority, about 9 out of every 10 major limb amputations took place between 2009 and the end of 2013 with the number peaking at 248 in 2011.  

Obama increased the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan immediately upon taking office in 2009.  

U.S.-led combat operations will come to a conclusion at the end of this year.  

A residual force of about 10,000 will remain in the country after that.  

By the end of 2015, that force will be reduced by half.  Except for a small contingency force charged with U.S. embassy security, all forces will be out of Afghanistan by 2017. 

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan have reached 2,207, the majority of which have occurred under Obama's watch. 

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