HarryG's BLOG

Iraq After 6 Years

The April 6, 2009 issue of The Nation on page 5 has some interesting statistics about Iraq six years after we invaded:

Cost to U.S. of war = $656 billion in funds allocated.

Documented civilian deaths = between 91,121 and 99,500

Estimated Iraqi deaths due to U.S. invasion = 1,320,110

Iraqi civilians killed in Feburary, 2009 = 346 (including 11 children)

U.S. casualties to date = 4,259 deaths and 31,131 wounded in action

U.S. troops deployed in Iraq since 2003 = 513,000, with 197,000 deployed more than once, and 53,000 deployed three or more times

U.S. soldiers who committed suicide in January, 2009 = as many as 24, the highest monthly total since the Army began keeping those stats in 1980

Iraqi unemployment rate = 18 percent overall, with 28 percent unemployment for men ages 15 to 29

Iraqi female labor force participation = 17 percent

Journalists killed in Iraq = 138

Estimated number of Iraqis displaced since 2003 = 5 million, which is nearly 20 percent of Iraq's total population

Iraqi prison population = 15,100 held in U.S. custody; 35,000 held in Iraqi custody

Average hours of electricity per day in Iraq = 13.3 hours

Some eye-popping numbers here....

Cheers!

Harry