INSTITUTE INDEX: The cost of war
Date on which the U.S. war in Iraq was declared officially over: 12/15/2011
Date on which the U.S. and U.K. launched the invasion: 3/20/2003
Number of casualties among coalition troops: 4,802
Number of casualties among U.S. troops alone: 4,484
Number of U.S. troops killed in action who were from Southern states*: 1,190
Number who were from Texas, which ranked second among the states for the most number of troops killed after California: 333
Rank of improvised explosive devices among the top causes of deaths for U.S. troops: 1
Total number of U.S. troops wounded in action: 32,200
Deaths among civilian employees of U.S. government contractors: over 2,000
Number of documented civilian deaths resulting from the violence: over 104,080
Estimated numbers of Iraqis who are now refugees or internally displaced: 1,500,000
According to a recent survey, percent of Iraqi households that have access to a sanitation network: 30
Percent of Iraqi households that rate their access to water as "bad" or "very bad": 59
Total cost of the war for the U.S.: $823,200,000,000
Estimated amount lost to waste and fraud in contracting in both Iraq and Afghanistan: $31,000,000,000
* AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
(Click on figure to go to source. U.S. Department of Defense photo of U.S. soldiers retiring the command colors during the ceremony marking the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq in Baghdad on Dec. 15, 2011 by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.