3,990: American troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the war. [icasualties.org, 3/17/08]
29,395: Number of U.S. service members that have been wounded in hostile action since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq. [AP, 3/11/08]
60,000: Number of troops that have been subjected to controversial stop-loss measures--meaning those who have completed service commitments but are forbidden to leave the military until their units return from war. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]
5: Number of times the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has been sent to Iraq. They are the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq for a fifth time. [San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/08]
2,100: Number of troops who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves increased from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 last year. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]
11.9: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their first Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]
27.2: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their third or fourth Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]
The Cost to Our Military Readiness
88: Percent of current and former U.S. military officers surveyed in a recent independent study who believe that the demands of the war in Iraq have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin" [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]
94: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]
79: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2007 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]
4,644: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2003. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]
12,057: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2007. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]
67: Percent of captains the Army managed to retain this year, short of its goal of 80 percent, and in spite of cash bonus incentives of up to $35,000 [Armed Services Committee Hearing, 2/26/08]
The Cost to Our National Security
1,188: Number of global terrorist incidents from January - September 11th, 2001. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]
5,188: Number of global terrorist incidents in from January- September 11th, 2006. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]
30: Percent increase in violence in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. [Reuters, 10/15/07]
21: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2001. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]
139: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2006, with an additional increase of 69 percent as of November 2007. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]
30: Percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Afghan Government according to DNI Mike McConnell. [Associated Press, 2/27/08]
2,380: Days since September 11th, 2001 that Osama Bin Laden has been at-large.
The Cost of Funding the War in Iraq
$50-60 Billion: Bush Administration's pre-war estimates of the cost of the war. [New York Times, 12/31/02]
$12 Billion: Direct cost per month of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]
$526 Billion: Amount of money already appropriated by Congress for the War in Iraq. [CRS, 2/22/08]
$3 Trillion: Total estimated cost of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]
$5 Trillion - $7 Trillion: Total cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans. [McClatchy, 2/27/08]
160: Percent that the cost of the Iraq War has increased from 2004 to 2008. [CRS Report, 2/22/08]
The Cost to Iraqis and Journalists
8,000: Number of Iraqi military and police killed since June 2003. [Brookings Institute, Iraq Index, March 13, 2008]
82,000-89,000: Estimate of Iraqi civilians casualties from violence since the beginning of the Iraq War. [Iraq Body Count]
4.5 Million: Number of Iraqi refugees both inside and outside the country. [Washington Post, 3/17/08]
61: Percent of Iraqis that believe the U.S. military presence makes the security situation in Iraq worse. [Agence France-Presse, 3/17/08]
127: Number of journalists killed in Iraq since March 2003. [Committee to Protect Journalists]
Economic Costs of War in Iraq
$33.51: Cost of a barrel of oil in March 2003. [Energy Information Administration]
$105.68: Cost of a barrel of oil on March 17, 2008. [NYMEX]
U.S. Troops and Contractors in Iraq
132,000: Number of U.S. troops in Iraq in January 2007, before President Bush's escalation. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]
155,000: Number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]
140,000: Number of U.S. troops projected to be in Iraq in July 2008. [Associated Press, 2/26/08]
35,000: Number of private security contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]
180,000: Number of private contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]
Progress Towards Political Reconciliation Made By Iraqis
3: Number out of 18 Bush Administration Benchmarks Met by Iraqi Government As of January 24, 2008. [Center for American Progress, 1/24/08]
18: Number of provinces President Bush said would be secured by Iraqis as of November 2007. [President Bush Speech, 1/10/07]
8: Number of provinces actually secured by Iraqis as of January 2008. [NPR, 1/7/08]
Bush-Republican Intransigence on Staying the Course in Iraq
8: Number of times a majority of the Senate has voted to change course in Iraq.
7: Number of times Bush Republicans in Congress have blocked changing course in Iraq.
1: Number of vetoes issued by the White House over changing course in Iraq.
Thanks to Senator Harry Reid's office for this list.
The military has standards to accept recruits. If a recruit has done something in his/her past that is questionable, he/she may not be accepted because of it... unless the military grants a moral waiver.
The increase shows how the military is lowering the standards for recruits to meet recruiting demands. Basically "less moral" applicants are getting in.
I wonder....if you go back 5 years, and the Iraq War never happened, but the US concentrated their complete effort into Afghanistan, what the world would be like right now.
I wonder....if you go back 5 years, and the Iraq War never happened, but the US concentrated their complete effort into Afghanistan, what the world would be like right now.
I wonder....if you go back 5 years, and the Iraq War never happened, but the US concentrated their complete effort into Afghanistan, what the world would be like right now.
Go ask Josh Rushing, he'd have a fairly educated opinion for you:
Josh Rushing is a United States Marine Captain who was a press officer for United States Central Command (CENTCOM) during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. He became famous for his appearance in the documentary Control Room, which documented his conversation with Al Jazeera correspondent Hassan Ibrahim. After the Pentagon ordered him not to comment on the movie,[1] he left the Marine Corps and is now working for Al Jazeera English.
In 2007, Palgrave Macmillan published Mission: Al-Jazeera, Rushing's memoir of his journey from a small town in Texas to the Marines to Al Jazeera English.
Jesus Christ that is intense. If they showed that every night on the news I wonder where we'd be at.
You mean on that biased liberal media?
Turn on the news of most American networks, and you are more likely to see Iraqi children playing and eating ice-cream, than suffering.
Too bad for Iraqis that things are bound to get worse for them as soon as the U.S. pulls out. Not that they should stay there forever or that they should even be there in the 1st place, but as soon as they leave, it will be a powder keg.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
I recently saw a play called 9 Parts of Desire, written and acted by an American woman of Iraqi heritage. It was about the stories of 9 Iraqi women since the original Gulf War and is the most powerful stage performance I have ever seen. People were openly weeping during the one woman performance. It was astounding. Afterwards, the playwrite took time to sit with the audience and take questions. She still has over 50 family members in Iraq and regularly talks with them. She relayed stories about their lives and how Iraq is now. She says it is complete chaos and the story we are getting from the media is completely opposite to the truth (she is ironically married to a BBC journalist). All hopes of peace are gone. All hopes of the Americans come out of this with any credibility in the Middle East are gone. The longer they stay, the more hatred develops. She is NOT a political person and had to be cajoled into sharing her personal views, so it was extremely sad to hear someone speak of the issues there and explain openly how all hope is lost. Five years later and it continues to grow into a bigger mistake each day. This will be Bush's legacy, and it will impact Americans financially for generations to come, but the most depressing factor is that those alive in Iraq know that order may never be restored in their life times or that of their grand children. Imagine waking up knowing that not a single thing in your life was safe? That is the greatest crime of all.
And the hits keep coming. Now the AP is saying that they are not only being censored, but their reporters/cameramen are being arrested to prevent news and images from getting out of Iraq. That's one sure way to make sure that the news coming out of Iraq is positive!
I guess we should put this into perspective. Governments have controlled media coverage during war times for as long as media has been around. Maybe the difference here is that it's an unjustified war.
The saddest part of this whole debacle is the irony. So the US funds Saddam Hussein in the 80's to fight against Iran. The US, see, liked Sunni Muslims because they were much more moderate than e Muslims. Then they didn't like Saddam because he was a dictator who didn't listen to them. So, they wage a war on a faulty CIA report, many years later, they are still there. This war has cost them three trillion dollars. Just think, three trillion dollars. And their end result hopefully is to have a democratic Iraq. Well, you American geniuses, the end result will be a e dominate government that is cozy with Iran. What a bunch of morons. But the war machine will always have American sheeples support. Just throw up the red,white and blue and scream patriotism. Hope you got your three trillion dollars worth. For a democratic e Muslim nation. Brilliant.
Sheeite(phonetic spelling) is not a swear word. if anyone reads this post all the e's are for Sheeite's
Last edited by flamey_mcflame; 03-19-2008 at 09:54 PM.
Man, looking back to the time Cowperson accused me of being an appeasement sympathizer for not agreeing with the invasion of Iraq. He was trying to equate Saddam with Hitler. I'm not saying Saddam was by any means a good guy but I'd say the closer one to being a Hitler and a threat to the world is Junior.
Another point I made was the use of imbeds to give us the news. Nobody I remember, seemed to think that their reporting could be a little biased. In fact the only link I could find to back my position came from the U of C paper for which I was roundly lambasted.
Iraq five years later... by the numbers
