Categories
War

Fun Facts About Iraq!

The Iraq war will end up costing at least $3 trillion. With that much money, you could end world hunger for 100 years or end American hunger for 100 minutes!

  1. At least 100,000 civilians have been killed. That’s the equivalent of 35 September 11th attacks, but I don’t like to brag.
  2. Another interesting factoid is that the war will end up costing at least $3 trillion.  With that much money, you could end world hunger for 100 years or end American hunger for 100 minutes!
  3. Over 4 million Iraqis have lost their homes a result of the war.  That’s equivalent to the population of Maine, Idaho, and New Hampshire combined. Sorry, guys. You cannot all crash on my couch.
U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ

It’s all about the benjamins WMD’s. Yeah, that’s it! WMD’s!

  • Spent & Approved War-Spending – About $900 billion of US taxpayers’ funds spent or approved for spending through November 2010.
  • Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq – $9 billion of US taxpayers’ money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
  • Missing – $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
  • Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq – $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
  • Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported – $1.4 billion
  • Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items – $20 billion
  • Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem “questionable or supportable” – $3.2 billion
  • U.S. 2009 Monthly Spending in Iraq – $7.3 billion as of Oct 2009
  • U.S. 2008 Monthly Spending in Iraq – $12 billion
  • U.S. Spending per Second – $5,000 in 2008 (per Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on May 5, 2008)
  • Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq – $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
Infographic Detailing the Costs of the Iraq War in 10 Steps (Three Trillion Dollars)
Graph Source: http://awesome.good.is/transparency/013/transparency013trilliondollarwar.html

TROOPS IN IRAQ

Support Our Troops… By sending them to a Middle Eastern hellhole.

  • 47,000 U.S. troops. All other nations have withdrawn their troops.
  • U.S. Troop Casualties – 4,444 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army
  • Non-U.S. Troop Casualties – Total 316, with 179 from the UK
  • US Troops Wounded – 32,051, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries. (Total excludes psychological injuries.)
  • US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems – 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home
  • US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq – 75 total, at least 36 by enemy fire
Graph of US Troop Strength In Iraq
Graph Source: http://www.wallstats.com/blog/us-troop-stength-in-iraq-and-other-data/

IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ

I’m sure you’ve never seen one on TV, but there are actually people who live in Iraq.

  • Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops – More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.
  • Journalists killed – 146, 97 by murder and 49 by acts of war
  • Journalists killed by US Forces – 14
  • Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed – 9,889 as of Jan 31, 2011
  • Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated – On October 22, 2010, ABC News reported “a secret U.S. government tally that puts the Iraqi (civilian) death toll over 100,000,” information that was included in more than 400,000 military documents released by Wikileaks.com.
  • A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000.

Graph of Iraqi Deaths (2003-2010)

Graph Source: http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.nl/2011/01/2010-ends-with-slight-drop-in-iraqi.html

QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS

Why doesn’t anyone ever focus on the 72% of kids who aren’t malnourished?

  • Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 – 2,255,000
  • Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan – 2.1 million to 2.25 million
  • Iraqi Unemployment Rate – 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
  • Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 – 50%
  • Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition – 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
  • Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 – 40%
  • Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion – 34,000
  • Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion – 12,000
  • Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion – 2,000
  • Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity – 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)
  • Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity – 10.9 in May 2007
  • Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity – 5.6 in May 2007
  • Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity – 16 to 24
  • Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems – 37%
  • Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies – 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
  • Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated – 22%
Graph Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4228

IRAQI PUBLIC OPINION

What do they know, anyway?
  • Iraqis “strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops – 82%
  • Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security – less than 1%
  • Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation – 67%
  • Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces – 72%
RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (SOURCE: BROOKINGS INSTITUTE)
Graph Source: http://www.good.is

Data is presented as of March 31, 2011, except as indicated.