Iraq War: By The Numbers

(AP)  U.S. TROOP LEVELS:

October 2007: 170,000 at peak of troop buildup.

March 2, 2009: 140,000

DEATHS AND WOUNDED:

Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of March 2, 2009: At least 4,252.

Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of Jan. 31, 2009: 31,010.

Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of Jan. 31, 2009: 35,841.

U.S. military deaths for February 2009: 16

Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of Sept. 30, 2008: 1,264.

Iraqi deaths in February 2009 from war-related violence: 283, the second lowest number of casualties reported in one full month since the AP began tracking this figure in April of 2005.

Assassinated Iraqi academics as of Feb. 16, 2009: 414.

Journalists killed on assignment as of March 2, 2009: 136.

COST:

Over $601 billion, according to the National Priorities Project. According to the Congressional Research Service, Congress has approved more than $657 billion so far for the Iraq war.

OIL PRODUCTION:

Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.

February 18, 2009: 2.30 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.

Feb. 10, 2009 nationwide: 5,550 megawatts. Hours per day: 14.3.

Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.

Feb. 10, 2009 Baghdad: Megawatts not available. Hours per day: 15.1.

Note: Current Baghdad megawatt figures are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.

TELEPHONES:

Prewar land lines: 833,000.

Jan. 5, 2009: 1,300,000.

Prewar cell phones: 80,000.

Jan. 5, 2009: An estimated 14.7 million.

WATER:

Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.

Jan. 15, 2009: 21.2 million people have potable water.

SEWERAGE:

Prewar: 6.2 million people served.

Dec. 31, 2008: 11.3 million people served.

INTERNAL REFUGEES:

Nov. 27, 2008: At least 2.4 million people are currently displaced inside Iraq.

EMIGRANTS:

Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.

Jan. 2009: Close to 2 million, mainly in Syria and Jordan.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced in late November that 50,000 Iraqi refugees had submitted for resettlement in the Middle East.



All figures are the most recent available.



Sources: The Associated Press, State Department, Defense Department, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, Refugees International, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, Committee to Protect Journalists, National Priorities Project, The Brussels Tribunal, Department of Labor, Congressional Research Service.

[texasbeta]

America's integrity was at stake, message sent "when you surrender to America, after being totally annihilated, (gulf-war-1), you better listen to what we say, or else"
Posted by Joe-NY-3 at 4:15 PM

This is your foreign policy? This is it? You want to be "bubba" from Georgia...to the rest of the world. Well boys....there is no use in this conversation. I am actually talking with people who think the world corresponds to their back-ass-woods lifestyle with their 3 buddies after drinking some beers and shootin' off bottle-rockets. You can't argue with dumb...dumb just doesn't get it.

Later ya'll....try to read a book after Hee Haw will ya?

[texasbeta]

if you're stupid enough to want somebody as crazy as Saddam run loose in the world...I guess you now stupid enough to want somebody like Ahmenijhad loose with one.
Posted by ChgUBINOT

Not even a partial clue. None. The cause of the war is liberals complaining about global warming, and Saddam flexing his muscles, though he was only involved in 2 wars, one of which we supported him through, on a region that you considered safe...without Saddam huh?....and ki.....oh what the hell. There is reason with you bro. You...wow....can't believe I am saying this...can't be saved. You are done for my man. You aren't even close to getting to a point, mentally....to start this. Watch out when you are walking...we don't want you to scratch your knuckles...it leaves scars.

[texasbeta]

de-stabilize the flow of oil from the Middle East for a ego-type POWER TRIP! Especially threatening the Saudi family and OPEC.
Posted by ChgUBINOT

Wow. Hjust brought back Steve Attwater with a Oouija board or something? Wow. You have just listed the pure Steve Attwater response, like...from a tape or something. Too bad he was a swindler and all out liar. Regardless, I have a Bachelor's and Master's in History...not with specialty in Middle Eastern regions however, but with a specialty in religous history though. I actually have a broad background in the history of the Middle East, though from a starting point far beyond your point I could imagine, but none the less...yes sir, I have studied it a bit.

[tincup356]

UM...what? Man, I am as liberal as they come...but, what? What in the hell what"? What the "what"? I am almost dumbfounded...the guy came out and admitted it on tape; we have records of the freaking phone calls that started the entire process....recordings, the evidence is insurmountable. Where in the hell....what? Just.....what in the hell are you talking about?
Posted by texasbeta at 3:30 PM : Mar 3, 2009 .................the facts are facts he has NEVER been charged.........seems like they would have at least done that you would think........but then again what has been told about 911 that can be verified as the truth....the investigation was a sham and not done anything like a normal investigation...we were just told what they wanted us to think......after all it meant big money to go to war for a lot of big companies,,,,and Bush made personal profit off of it and STILL is...through the Carlyle Group....last year....6 billion.

[ajmarine2]

I'm not that familiar with the original formation of Iraq, was it another British established country, like Israel ?
Posted by Joe-NY-3 at 3:55 PM : Mar 3, 2009



My last answer was for you Joe, I forgot to address it to you.

[texasbeta]

m not that familiar with the original formation of Iraq, was it another British established country, like Israel ?
Posted by Joe-NY-3

Yeppers..
to follow up though...Iraq was Britain's mainstay of oil throughout 20th century, and Iran was ours. The company was like a combo of the names...the Amero/Iranian oil something or other...something like that, easy to look up though and an interesting read...anyway, they gave us a killer deal on oil, and we kept them paid and safe. It ended up, as it seems to in that region, that the leader lived killer and the rest of the country starved. Iranians got pissed after a while and revolted. They kicked out the Shah of Iran, put in another cat...the CIA killed him and put back the Shah in the 50s I believe. Again, easy to look up. When they revolted the second time, it was in the 70s with the Ayatolla, blaming us, and initiating the 1st Fundamentalist Islamic Theocracy in the moderm era, and thus...Islamic terrorists. See how this all relates? Everybody has a hand in the blame...even us.

[ajmarine2]

Iraq was an important outpost of the Ottoman empire. It was not known as Iraq at this time, it was the collection of three vilayets of the empire: Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, sometimes referred to by the British as Mesopotamia.


Sharp: The land now known as Iraq has an ancient history as Mesopotamia---the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden. But as a country Iraq did not exist before the 20th century. At the beginning of World War One it was a collection of three provinces that were part of the sprawling Ottoman Empire run by the Turks. By then the empire was falling apart and other powers were coveting its territory. During the war, the British and the French held secret negotiations. Historian Margaret MacMillan says they came to an understanding over the Ottoman lands of the Middle East.

MacMillan: ?The agreement is roughly that the British would get what became Iraq and what became Palestine and then later on Palestine and Transjordan, and that the French would get what became Lebanon and Syria.?

http://www.theworld.org/node/5553

[texasbeta]

m not that familiar with the original formation of Iraq, was it another British established country, like Israel ?
Posted by Joe-NY-3

Yeppers...after WWI, Britain...and us and a couple of others, but they were the big dogs then, not us...drew up the countries based upon oil fields. Funny huh? Iran is in the true Persia area though...that stayed. Thank the Brits man...good music, mean ass guys back in the day though.

[texasbeta]

wanted us to return every 5 years for a war, with the brutal dictator, that you preferred war after war, instead of being done with him once and for all......I guess you wanted soldiers going there perpetually, everytime Saddam invaded someone......sorry, America won, the Dems lost in their effort to undermine the war, like a "Fifth Column"
Posted by Joe-NY-3

I asked a question earlier...why was it inevitable that we go to war with Iraq. Again, the first war over there had a background. We, as a country, really don't appear to get caught up in actually reading the background of something, unless we are losing it, and then...just to lay blame. The background of that war, was Kuwait was being accused of side-ways drilling into Iraq's oil fields. They border each other...Iraq claimed they had done it for 4 years. Kuwait denied and said Hussein was an ass. Hussein was an ass. The Saudis have a huge link with us...always have, a friendly link, if you will. They could NOT allow Hussein that "buffer zone" between their countries. This is similar to how Russia used Easern Europe as a buffer zone during the cold war. Hussein eventually went in. Saudi asked us to kick his ass....we did. They got out. Done deal. We didn't HAVE to get involved though. It wasn't inevitable. Iraq had a monster oil field, as big as the Saudis, that was virtually untapped since the war started with Iran, years beforehand. They didn't need Kuwait's oil. We didn't HAVE to get involved. So, that being said...did we HAVE to go there this time? What started this one? He didn't bomb us. See what I mean? Was it really inevitable?

[texasbeta]

That's your answer ? the Kurds deserved to be gassed ? and WE did something similar ???? are you insane or has Liberalism rotted your brain ?
Posted by Joe-NY-3

It was bad stuff. I am not in the business of justifying him, just explaining the situation. It is said as if it is referring to just average cats, hanging out, rounded up and gassed like Stalin. However, that wasn't the case...Iraq is 3 countries, combined into 1 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, post WWI...the Kurds want their stuff back. I get that. I support that actually, quite a bit. I am merely explaining the situation of the actions. I would not neccesarily be against an invasion of a country for the purposes of allowing a group of oppressed people within that country, to be liberated, obviously within a vast amount of parameters. If Bush told me on day 1...these people are hurting and asking for help...nobody will help them. Their dictator slaughters and owns them. We are going to help, and we are going today. I would have stood up and said, holy cow. He would need to justify the facts...and more than a country within the country is revolted in 1988 and he killed them with weapons that you supplied them. That is not enough to get involved for me, particularly when we were in Afghanistan looking for Osama and fighting Taliban. Now, those cats were being beaten down. I guess we all have levels of justification and mine are a little beyond yours. That could make sense. By that definition, however, you must be in favor of immediate invasion to all African regions, and several more Middle Eastern countries...tomorrow. I am not. Are you for that?