Bush Dismisses Current Violence in Iraq as "Just a Comma"

Yesterday, CNN aired a portion of an interview with President Bush in which the President dismissed the current disastrous situation in Iraq as something that would be viewed in the future as "just a comma" in the history of the country. (As a former history teacher I must disagree with the President's assessment here.) A look at the facts shows that the situation in Iraq should not be so lightly dismissed. Yesterday, Americans learned that Bush's Iraq policy is increasing terrorism. Today, Americans will hear from retired Generals on how the Bush Administration has bungled the war in Iraq. The army is short billions of dollars and inept Iraqi troops are hindering progress. It's time for a new direction.

Bush Dismissed Violence in Iraq as "Just a Comma":

BLITZER: We see these horrible bodies showing up ...

BUSH: Of course you do.

BLITZER: ...tortured, mutilation. The Shia and the Sunni, the Iranians apparently having a negative role. Of course, Al-Qaida in Iraq's still operating.

BUSH: Yes, you see -- you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people. Twelve million people voted last December. Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy. [CNN, 9/24/06]


Why Calling the Situation in Iraq a "Comma" Deserves Comment:


Iraq - Security

Approximate number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq:147,000 Percent of coalition forces contributed by the U.S.:87 Approximate amount appropriated by Congress for Iraq operations so far: $379 billion Estimated total cost of operations in Iraq by war's end:$549 billion - $1.27 trillion Approximate amount spent by the U.S. in World War I (in inflation-adjusted dollars): $205 billion Approximate amount the U.S. is spending in Iraq per month in Fiscal Year 2006 (including operational and investment costs): $8 billion Approximate amount the U.S. spent in Iraq per month in Fiscal Year 2003 (including operational and investment costs): $4.4 billion Number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq:2,690 Number reported wounded by the Defense Department:20,322 Number of National Guard soldiers killed in Iraq through September 2, 2006:374 Number of National Guard soldiers killed in the entire Vietnam War:97 Number of Iraqi military and police killed since training began in June 2003: 5,409 Number of journalists killed in Iraq:77 Number of journalists killed in Vietnam: 63 Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (November 2003):5,000 Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (August 2006):20,000 + Estimated number of foreign fighters in Iraq in May 2003:100 Estimated number of foreign fighters in Iraq in August 2006: 800 - 2,000 Number of civilian casualties in Iraq since U.S.-led invasion:43,300 - 48,000 Number of multi-fatality bombings in August 2004:13 Number of multi-fatality bombings in August 2006:52 Average number of daily attacks by insurgents in August 2004:47 Average number of daily attacks by insurgents in August 2006:90

Iraq - Political
Number of operational links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq: 0 Estimated number of al Qaeda members worldwide in 2001, according to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT): 20,000 Estimated number of al Qaeda members worldwide in 2006, according to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT): 50,000 Amount requested by the President in his Fiscal Year 2007 budget for democracy promotion in Iraq: 0 Number of seats radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al Sadr controls in the Iraqi parliament: 30 Percent of Iraqis who believe the country is headed in the right direction: 41 percent Percent of Iraqis who rate current economic conditions as poor:51 percent Degree of corruption in Iraq on the Transparency International 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index (on a scale of 0-10, with 0 representing "highly corrupt" and 10 representing "highly clean"):2.2 Annual cost of corruption to Iraq's economy, according to the Deputy Prime Minister:$4 billion Number of corruption cases that have been filed since the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity was established in 2004:3,500 Approximate number of Iraqi families internally displaced as of February 2006 (prior to February 22 bombing of Shiite shrine in Samarra):3,000 Approximate number of Iraqi families internally displaced since the Samarra bombing in February 2006, according to Iraqi government officials: 30,000 families or 182,000 people Number of Iraqi civilians killed in May, according to data from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue:2,669 Number of Iraqi civilians killed in June, according to data from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue:3,149 Number of Iraqi civilians killed in July, according to data from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue: 3,438 Number of Iraqi civilians killed in August, according to data from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue:3,009 Number of Iraqis who died violently during the period of June-August 2006: > 110 per day Number of Iraqis who died violently during the period of June-August 2004: <> 2 million Percent of Iraq's professional class that has left the country since late 2003:40 percent




Iraq - Reconstruction
Amount of the $14.6 billion pledged by the international community for Iraq's reconstruction that has been dispersed according to the July report from the Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction:$3.5 billion Amount of taxpayer money spent by Halliburton that the Defense Contract Audit Agency has deemed either excessive or insufficiently documented:$1.47 billion Amount of Iraqi reconstruction funds the military has failed to account for (according to the Defense Department's inspector general):$8.8 billion Amount, of the $20.9 billion appropriated for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF), that the U.S. has spent to date:$20.1 billion Percent of Iraq reconstruction funds used for security:25 Number of days before all funding will be obligated and no new work orders will be allowed under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund: 5 According to the GAO, anticipated reconstruction gap (difference between estimates of what is needed to rebuild and what the international community has pledged in aid) that the new Iraqi government will face: $50 billion Percent decline in Iraq's GDP in 2005:3 Oil output for September 2006 (barrels per day):2.4 million Average oil output prior to invasion (barrels per day):2.5 million Bush Administration's prewar projections of Iraq's post-war oil output (barrels per day):3 million Iraq's lost oil revenues in 2005:$6.25 billion Percent of Iraq's economy represented by oil revenues: 90 Amount U.S. taxpayers have invested in Iraq's oil industry reconstruction:$2 billion Cost of 2-year delay in construction of a critical oil pipeline in Northern Iraq, due to lack of security and flawed management and planning:$14.8 billion Approximate number of guards who actually were trained in protecting Iraq's oil equipment, of the 21,000 originally targeted:11,000 Electricity capacity in Iraq (in megawatts) prior to invasion (March 2003):4,500 Electricity capacity to have been reached by July 2004, according to U.S. reconstruction goals:6,000 Electricity capacity in Iraq (in megawatts) in September 2006:4,050 Percent of planned water projects that have been completed, according to the Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction's July report:55 percent Percent of planned sewage projects that have been completed, according to the Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction's July report: 57 percent Number of the planned 142 health care clinics that actually will be completed under the Army Corps of Engineers $243 million program:20 Number of the planned 136 sanitation and water projects that will be completed: 49 Number of Iraqi physicians registered prior to the invasion:34,000 Number of Iraqi physicians who have been murdered or fled the country since the invasion:14,000 Infant mortality rate in Iraq: (Middle East average is 37, sub-Saharan Africa average is 105)102



Iraq - Security
1. Associated Press, 9/20/06.
2. The Brookings Institution Iraq Index reports that there were approximately 18,000 non-U.S., non-Iraqi troops in Iraq as of September 2006. September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
3. Senate Appropriations Committee Minority Staff. Congressional Research Service, RL 33110 (http://www.congress.gov/erp/rl/pdf/RL33110.pdf)
4. Low end cost, Congressional Budget Office, 7/13/06 - the CBO offers two different scenarios, with estimated costs of $493 billion and $697 billion. High end cost is from Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz, "The Economic Cost of War in Iraq." NBER Paper, February 2006.
5. Christian Science Monitor, 8/29/05.
6. Congressional Research Service RL 33110. (http://www.congress.gov/erp/rl/pdf/RL33110.pdf) This estimate includes both operational (military personnel, operation and maintenance, working capitol, defense health) and investment (procurement, RTD&E, and military construction) costs.
7. Congressional Research Service RL 33110. (http://www.congress.gov/erp/rl/pdf/RL33110.pdf) This estimate includes both operational (military personnel, operation and maintenance, working capitol, defense health) and investment (procurement, RTD&E, and military construction) costs.
8. DoD Casualty Report (http://www.dod.gov/news/casualty.pdf) September 25, 2006.
9. DoD Casualty Report (http://www.dod.gov/news/casualty.pdf) September 25, 2006.
10. As of September 2, 2006. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
11. New York Daily News, 7/5/05.
12. As of September 20, 2006. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
13. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
14. New York Times, 5/30/06.
15. New York Times, 5/30/06.
16. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
17. New York Times, 6/15/06.
18. New York Times, 6/15/06.
19. As of September 19, 2006. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf) (and not including deaths from crime); other estimates cite higher numbers: 43,426 - 48,215 according to the Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/) accessed on 9/25/06.
20. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
21. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
22. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
23. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)

Iraq - Political
1. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Phase II Reports, 9/8/06. (http://intelligence.senate.gov/) 2. 3rd Way, September 2006. (http://www.third-way.com/products/58)
3. 3rd Way, September 2006. (http://www.third-way.com/products/58)
4. Senate Appropriations Committee, Minority Staff.
5. Washington Post, 7/7/06. Sadr controls 30 of 275 Parliamentary seats, as well as 5 cabinet posts.
6. According to a June survey conducted by the International Republican Institute, reported in the Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
7. According to a June survey conducted by the International Republican Institute, reported in the Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
8. Transparency International (http://www.transparency.org) 9. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report, July 2006. http://www.sigir.mil/reports/QuarterlyReports/Jul06/Default.aspx
10. Global Policy Forum, 9/6/06. (http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/reconstruct/2006/0906corruption.htm)
11. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, July 17, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
12. According to Iraq's Ministry of Displaced and Migration, reported by The Weekly Standard, 8/21/06.
13. Reuters, 7/18/06. Reuters reports that a new U.N. report has compiled data from the Baghdad morgue and Iraqi Health Ministry. The Baghdad morgue reports taking in 1,155 bodies in April, 1,375 in May and 1,595 in June. An estimated 80 percent of these deaths were the result of violence. At the same time, Iraq's Health Ministry reports a further 1,294 violent deaths in May and 1,554 in June. See http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC852433.htm.
14. Reuters, 7/18/06. See details in #10.
15. New York Times, 8/15/06. See details in #10.
16. Washington Post, 9/21/06. According to the U.N. and based on data from the Bagdad morgue and the Iraqi Health Ministry.
17. Los Angeles Times, 9/2/06.
18. Los Angeles Times, 9/2/06.
19. Minority Rights Group, 1/19/2006. (http://www.minorityrights.org/) 20. New York Times, 6/26/06.
21. New York Times, 6/26/06.

Iraq - Reconstruction
1. SIGIR Quarterly Report, July 2006. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul06/Default.aspx)
2. Boston Globe, 6/28/05.
3. Boston Globe, 4/6/06.
4. As of September 2006. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
5. Christian Science Monitor, 6/15/06.
6. Washington Post, 7/12/06. According to the Army, all monies under IRRF will be obligated by September 30 and no new work orders will be issued after that date.
7. GAO-06-885T, 7/19/06
8. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, reported by the Los Angeles Times, 1/2/06.
9. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 11, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
10. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 11, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
11. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 11, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
12. According to Iraqi oil ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad, reported by UPI, 2/23/06.
13. Department of Defense, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, August 2006. http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Iraq_Reports/Index.html
14. UPI, 2/23/06.
15. Washington Post, 8/1/06.
16. New York Times, 4/30/06.
17. Boston Globe, 2/16/06.
18. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 11, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
19. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 14, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
20. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to Congress, July 2006. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul06/Default.aspx)
21. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report to Congress, July 2006. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jul06/Default.aspx)
22. New York Times, 4/30/06.
23. Council on Foreign Relations, 6/22/06.
24. As of September 2006. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, July 17, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
25. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
26. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, September 21, 2006. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)