Iraq War Costs 2011

• Troops in Iraq
• BBC Report
• Refugees
• US Spending
• UK Spending
• Health costs
• Alternatives the money could have bought

U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ (Information from usliberals.about.com) Other sources below

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.

Lost and Reported Stolen - $6.6 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money earmarked for Iraq reconstruction, reported on June 14, 2011 by Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction Stuart Bowen who called it "the largest theft of funds in national history." (Source - CBS News) Last known holder of the $6.6 billion lost: the U.S. government.

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. Annual Air-Conditioning Cost in Iraq and Afghanistan - $20.2 billion (Source - NPR, June 25, 2011)

U.S. 2009 Monthly Spending in Iraq - $7.3 billion as of Oct 2009

More information from here/usliberals.about.com.

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Also from this website

TROOPS IN IRAQ

July 2011

Troops in Iraq - Total 45,000 U.S. troops. All other nations have withdrawn their troops.

U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,457 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 - 32,102, 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

IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS 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 - 148, 97 by murder and 51 by acts of war

Journalists killed by US Forces - 14

Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 9,950 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 casualities at over 600,000.

Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000

Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 572

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 306, including 57 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 89 status unknown.

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000

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QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS

Refugees

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%

RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)

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 ecure because of the occupation - 67%

Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%

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BBC Report 28 March 2008

The Iraq war: Counting the cost

Analysis  By Steve Schifferes,  Economics reporter, BBC News

IRAQ WAR COST ESTIMATES  [March 2008]

Direct costs: $750bn

Future direct costs: c$500bn

Cost of US casualties: $600bn

Losses to economy: $400bn

Added interest: $600bn

Macro-economic impact:

$1-$2 trillion

sources: CBO, OMB, Stiglitz and Blimes

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Critics include costs official estimates do not

The Iraq war has proved far more costly than the US government thought when it went to war five years ago.

But controversy still rages over the ultimate size of the bill for the war, with some suggesting the cost could reach $3 trillion ($3,000bn, or £1,500bn).

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the direct costs of the war on terror, which include operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, have so far have reached $752bn, if the current year's appropriation of $188bn is included.

             War critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq - so now they argue the war costs too much. About 80% of that cost has been spent in Iraq.

By the end of next year, the direct cost to US Treasury will be over $1 trillion. [$1000 billion]

The war has been far more costly than planned because it has gone on so long.

That has led to growing spending on procurement, to replace ammunition and vehicles, as well as higher costs for the large numbers of troops on the ground.

In fact, the yearly cost has doubled since the 2003 appropriation of $74bn - which the Bush administration expected to be the total cost of the war.

'Necessary costs'

According to President George W Bush, speaking at the Pentagon on 19 March, it has been a cost worth paying.

"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure - but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."

Others, mainly Democrats, say the money would have been better spent at home.

What the money could have bought

Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the trillion dollar cost "is enough to provide health care for all 47 million uninsured Americans and quality pre-kindergarten for every American child, solve the housing crisis once and for all, and make college affordable for every American student".

The higher cost of the war has also contributed to the US budget deficit, which could rise further if the economy slows down, and has reduced the fiscal headroom to put in place a bigger economic stimulus package.

The Bush Administration insisted on funding the war as a "emergency appropriation" each year, which means it has not been included in the official calculation of future budget deficits.

Economic impact

Many economists argue that the indirect costs of the war are even greater.

A study by the Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University and Linda Bilmes, a budget expert from Harvard, concludes the cost could be at least $3 trillion.

The figure is so large because, Professor Stiglitz says, it includes costs that official estimates do not, such as the cost of the lifetime medical care for 65,000 injured American personnel.

And he says that 100,000 of the 750,000 combat troops who have been discharged so far have been diagnosed with mental health problems.

On the strength of evidence from previous conflicts, he said, still others will have various health and mental problems in the future.

There will be disability pay and health care costs to the US budget that will continue for several decades.

He estimates these costs could add another $600bn to the price of the war.

Health costs

His figures also include the loss to the economy from injured people being unable to contribute as productively as they might otherwise would have done, and the cost of sending hundreds of thousands of National Guard troops who would otherwise have had worked at their civilian jobs - which he says amounts to around $400bn.

More controversial are the attempts to add up other economic costs of the war.

Professor Stiglitz - who served in the Clinton administration and is a former World Bank chief economist - says it is right to add the interest that the government will have to pay on its borrowing to his cost calculation, which will amount to another $600bn.

He also brings in the cost of higher oil prices, which he says are partly due to the conflict.

 He argues that by financing the war by deficit financing, the long-term macro-economic cost to the economy could be as high as $1.9 trillion.

And he says the overall cost of the Iraq war is approaching that of World War II, which cost the US $5 trillion in today's money.

His calculations on the broader impact of the war are similar to those in 2002 by Yale economics professor William Nordhaus.

And they also echo the concerns expressed by Lawrence Lindsey, President Bush's first economic adviser, who was sacked in December 2002 for warning that the Iraq war could cost $200bn.

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Further sources of information may be found in Wikipedia
Wikipedia article  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War#Various_estimates

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UK Cost of Iraq War 2007 Report from The Independent

£1bn-a-year cost of war in Iraq 'would be better spent on NHS hospitals'

By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor

Tuesday, 13 March 2007

The spiralling cost of the Iraq war to the British taxpayer is set to exceed £1bn this year for the first time since the invasion.  -  The figures were released as MPs protested about the plight of Britain's NHS hospitals, ordered to cut costs to wipe out their £512m deficit by the end of this month. Many MPs said the money would be better spent on the service.

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