Last August, the number of U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan under President Barack Obama became equal to the number of Afghanistan casualties under former President George W. Bush, at 575.

This past week, the number of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan under Obama surpassed 1,000, bringing the total to 1,657. As the planned troop drawdown nears, the number of American deaths has escalated under Obama's command.

Nonprofit advocacy group Just Foreign Policy noted:

That means that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. fatalities in the war in Afghanistan have occurred during the Obama administration, which has managed the war for a mere quarter of its duration.

Newly installed Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was in Afghanistan this weekend before heading to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.