Telling the Iraq War story by the Numbers

Little Progress in Training Iraqi Forces

Congress approved the Bush Administration April 2005 request for about $80 billion more for a third year of US spending and war efforts in Iraq.

To evaluate this request and war progress to date, it's vital to understand results in the two years since the US invaded and overthrew leadership of Iraq.

For your clear and quick reading, I listed key statistics taken from data analyzed by various think tanks, including the Center for American Progress and The Brookings Institution. Most info is presented through March 2005, except as indicated.

Spent & approved to spend in Iraq $300 billion of US taxpayers' money, as of June 2005
Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq $9 billion of US taxpayers' money
Halliburton Overcharges Hidden by the Pentagon from Auditors $108 million

Troops Total 175,000, including 150,000 from the US, 8,000 from the UK, 3,600 from South Korea

US Troop Casualities 1,535 US troops; 98% male.
93.6% non-officers; 79% active duty, 13% National Guard; 60.1% white, 9.1% African-American, 6.4% Latino.

34% were killed by unidentified causes. Non-US Troop Casualties Total 177, with 87 from the UK.

US Troops Wounded 11,568

Iraqi Forces Casualities about 3,700, including police, soldiers, security forces and interpreters

Iraqi Civilians Killed 28,000 to 40,000

Iraqi Insurgents Killed 15,000

US Contractors Killed 232

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped 193, including 33 killed, 85 released, 3 escaped, 2 rescued and 20 status unknown.

Estimated insurgents, June 2003 5,000

Estimated insurgents, March 2005 18,000, including less than 1,000 foreign nationals

Daily insurgent attacks, Feb 2004 14

Daily insurgent attacks, Feb 2005 70

Trained Iraqi Troops Needed by July 2006 271,000

Trained Iraqi Troops, Per the Pentagon 142,472

Trained Iraqi Troops, Per General Richard Meyers 40,000

Trained Iraqi Troops, Per US Senator Joseph Biden 4,000 to 18,000

Iraqi Police Needs - Weapons Have 93,093; Need 213,185

Iraqi Police Needs - Vehicles Have 5,923; Need 22,395

Iraqi Police Needs - Body Armor Have 42,941; Need 135,000

Iraqi Unemployment Rate 28 to 40%

Average Hours Iraqi Homes Have electricity 8

Length of Gasoline Lines 1 mile

Hepatitis Outbreaks 2002, 100; 2003, 170; 2004, 200.

Car Traffic Change 500% from July 2003 to Jan 2005

Children Enrolled in Primary School 2000, 3.6 million; 2003, 4.3 million

Telephone Subscribers pre-war, 833,000; March 2005, 2.9 million

And the statistic that us cyber-writers find interesting....Internet Subscribers pre-war, 11,000; March 2005, 147,076