The Cost of War

MONETARY COST

United States’ war in Iraq has cost both countries tremendously, and will continue to do so long after the fighting has ceased. Here are a few statistics that we have gathered from Peter Hoey and Karen Minot’s compilation in Mother Jones Magazine, entitled “Sunni, Shiite?… Anyone? Anyone?”

The war costs American taxpayers $275 million per day. That’s $1.9 billion per week and over $100 billion per year.
* The United States National Debt increases an average of $1.8 billion per day.
* Amount of money budgeted for the entire US Department of Education for fiscal year (FY) 2006: $56 billion

Cost of the Iraq Survey Group (responsible for locating WMD’s): $900 million
* Cost of the “Future of Iraq Project” reconstuction plan: $5 million
* Cost of the Iraq Study Group: $1 million

AMERICAN HUMAN TOLL

Over 3,000 American soldiers have died fighting in Iraq, and over have been wounded.

94% of American soldiers involved in the war report having been shot at
86% know someone that was killed or seriously injured in battle
68% have seen dead or seriously injured American soldiers
51% have handled or uncovered human remains
50% think we will ’succeed’
48% say they are responsible for the death of an ‘enemy combatant’
33% say we shouldn’t have invaded in the first place
28% say they are responsible for the death of a non-combatant
20% of Iraq veterans have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) according to the Veteran’s Association

IRAQI HUMAN TOLL

Over 6,000 Iraqi Police/Soldiers have been killed
70,000 – 600,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed

“The people who have fled are the ones the administration was relying on to build democracy in Iraq; it would rather ignore them than acknowledge that its initiative has failed.” – Bill Frelick, Refugee Policy Director at Human Rights Watch

# of Iraqi refugees, displaced by the war: 3.4 Million (about 1/8 of Iraq’s prewar population of 27 Million)
* 1.6 Million are displaced within the country
* 1.8 Million have left the country, according to the UN High Commission for refugees
* Saudi Arabia has responded by starting the construction of a 560 mile long fence, designed to keep Iraqi refugees from crossing their border and entering their country.

47% of Iraqi children have recently experienced a major traumatic event
30% go to school (prewar attendance was nearly 100%)
17% are experiencing symptoms of PTSD

JUST SOME MORE FUN FACTS

Size of the American embassy in Baghdad: 104 acres
Size of the Vatican: 109 acres
Number of staff at the American embassy in Baghdad: nearly 1,000
Number who are fluent in Arabic: 6