American Sacrifice In Afghanistan: Trump's Legacy

During Donald Trump's presidency, which lasted from January 2017 to January 2021, 63 U.S. military service members lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan. Of these casualties, 45 were combat deaths, and 18 were non-hostile deaths. Trump has made misleading claims about the number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan during his presidency, stating that there was an 18-month period when no American soldiers died. This claim has been proven false by various fact-checking organizations.

Trump's misleading statements about US casualties in Afghanistan

During his presidency, Donald Trump made several misleading statements about US casualties in Afghanistan. In May 2022, Trump claimed in a video shared on social media that "we didn't lose one American soldier. Not one." He further emphasised that "in 18 months in Afghanistan, we lost nobody". However, this claim is false, as there was no 18-month period during Trump's presidency (from January 2017 to January 2021) where no combat deaths were reported among US service members.

Trump did not specify the 18-month period he was referring to, but if he was referring to the period between February 2020 and August 2021, when he negotiated the Afghanistan withdrawal agreement, there were 15 hostile deaths recorded, with two in February 2020 and 13 in August 2021. This period includes months under the Biden administration.

Looking at the last 18 months of Trump's presidency, from July 2019 to December 2020, there were 12 combat deaths reported. During Trump's entire presidency, there were 45 combat deaths and 63 total deaths (including non-hostile) reported among US service members in Afghanistan.

In addition to misleading statements about US military casualties, Trump also made false claims about civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Civilian deaths from US-led airstrikes in Afghanistan rose drastically during the Trump era, increasing by 330% from 2016, the last full year of the Obama administration, to 2019. Despite this, Trump condemned the Biden administration after the military admitted to killing 10 Afghan civilians in a late August 2021 drone strike.

The number of US soldiers who died in Afghanistan during Trump's presidency

During his presidency, Donald Trump made the claim that there were 18 months in which no American soldiers died in Afghanistan. However, this statement has been proven false.

According to the Defense Casualty Analysis System, there were 45 combat deaths among U.S. service members reported in Afghanistan during Trump's presidency, as well as 18 "non-hostile" deaths. This brings the total number of casualties to 63.

There was an 18-month period, from early February 2020 to August 2021, in which no combat deaths were reported. However, this period includes time under the Biden administration. During the last 18 months of Trump's presidency, from July 2019 to December 2020, there were 12 combat deaths reported.

In total, 2,400-2,448 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001. The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan has been the country's longest war, lasting nearly 20 years.

The number of US soldiers who died in Afghanistan in 2020

In 2020, 11 US military deaths were recorded as part of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, according to the Defense Department's Defense Casualty Analysis System. Of those 11 deaths, four were hostile, combat-related deaths in Afghanistan: two in January and two in February.

In January 2020, two US Army soldiers were killed after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb during a NATO operation. In February, two more Army soldiers died as "a result of wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations".

There were also four non-hostile deaths recorded in Afghanistan between 12 February and 12 July 2020. The following service members' deaths were recorded during 2020 as "non-hostile" deaths:

• Branden Kimball, 21, died on 12 February from a "non-combat-related incident".
• Trevarius Bowman, 25, died on 19 May from a "non-combat-related incident".
• Vincent Ibarria, 21, died on 3 July as the result of a vehicle rollover accident.
• Joseph Allbaugh, 24, died on 12 July from a "non-combat-related incident".

In addition to the 11 military deaths, two US Air Force crew members were killed when an E-11A aircraft crashed in January 2020.

The US combat mission in Afghanistan has been America's longest war. Since the start of US military operations through to April 2021, 2,448 American service members have been killed in Afghanistan, according to data from Harvard University's Kennedy School and the Brown University Costs of War project. The US Department of Defense Casualty Status report records a similar number of deaths among American service members at 2,218, but only includes casualties that occurred in Afghanistan between 7 October 2001 and 31 December 2014.

The number of US soldiers who died in Afghanistan in 2019

The War in Afghanistan, which lasted from October 2001 to August 2021, resulted in the deaths of 2,459 US military personnel. Of these, 1,922 were killed in hostile action, while 534 died non-hostile deaths, and three deaths are still pending a status update.

In 2019, three US service members were killed in Afghanistan in a car bomb blast outside Bagram Air Field in April. This incident was one of many that contributed to the high number of US casualties in the country.

The US military suicide rate has climbed significantly since 2004, and it is estimated that over 30,177 service members and veterans of the post-9/11 wars have died by suicide—more than four times the number killed in combat. The true number of deaths may be even higher, as official Pentagon numbers do not include suicides that occur after troops return home.

In addition to the human cost, the War in Afghanistan also resulted in tens of thousands of injuries. According to the US Department of Defense Casualty Status Report, more than 20,000 US soldiers were wounded in the conflict, many of whom now live with permanent disabilities.

The number of US soldiers who died in Afghanistan in 2018

The War in Afghanistan, which lasted from October 2001 to August 2021, resulted in 2,459 United States military deaths. Of these, 1,922 were due to hostile action, 534 were non-hostile, and 3 are pending review.

On November 27, 2018, three US service members were killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. The incident marked the worst loss of life for American forces in the country that year. The deaths occurred when a roadside bomb detonated near Ghazni City, in the southeastern province of the same name. The bomb killed three Special Forces soldiers who had been deployed to the region three months prior to prevent the city from falling to the Taliban.

The Pentagon declared an end to American combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014. However, since that time, the Taliban have expanded their territorial control and continued to target and kill Afghan soldiers and police. As a result, American forces have been drawn back into the conflict.

The War in Afghanistan has been America's longest war. It has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and has cost the U.S. government $2.3 trillion.

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