President Obama is expected to announce the formal end of the American war in Iraq in a speech tomorrow. As we commemorate the end of a war, consider some of these facts and figures about the war in Iraq. Some of these numbers may shock you.
-4,483 American soldiers killed. 33,183 wounded.
– An estimated 104,080 to 113,728 Iraqi civilians killed from violence, according to the Iraq Body Count project.
-In 2011, there were an average of 6.5 deaths per day from suicide attacks and vehicle bombs, according to the Iraq Body Count project.
– According to the Lancet, from 2003 to 2010, 1,003 documented suicide bomb events caused 42, 928 civilian casualties and 12,284 civilian deaths.
– Most of the Iraqis displaced post-2006 have not returned home, and an estimated 1.5 million live in neighboring countries.
– Almost seven million Iraqis (23% of the total population) live in poverty, spending less than 77, 000 Iraqi Dinars per person per month, or 2.2 US$ per person per day.
– The direct cost of the Iraq war to the United States treasury were $1 trillion. That excludes the “downstream” costs of things like veterans benefits and long term care for the wounded. 1 trillion divided by the US population of 307 million equals a cost of over $3,200 per American citizen taxpayer.
What other figures should I include?