Diminished Capacity

The Price

A few days ago, the number of US military deaths in Iraq crossed the 900 mark. As of yesterday, the Department of Defense had confirmed 903 military personnel killed. (Which soldier was number 900 exactly is unclear. The DoD web site doesn't give out enough information on the ordering of the deaths.) In addition, the current count for deaths among allied "coalition" troops is 117. There are therefore now over 1000 direct deaths among allied military personnel.

There have also been numerous deaths among civilian contractors, for which it is impossible to get a direct count. However, this site lists the names of 116, though there are surely far more.

At least 5,000-6,000 Iraqi military were killed during the course of the war itself, and something like another 12,000 civilians have been killed (though that is a number based on news reports and may be low.)

We are therefore now at something like seven times the number of people killed on 9/11, and this is just in Iraq.

We've also spent something like $125 billion dollars, and we're planning on spending something like $100 billion more. (Sources for a more accurate figure would be appreciated).