4,000

Ken AshfordIraq, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

That’s the number of U.S. military casualties to date in Iraq and Afghanistan (3,596 in Iraq) since Bush started the "war on terra" 5 1/2 years ago, according to Bloomberg.  AP adds, "All told, Congress has appropriated $610 billion in war-related money since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror assaults, roughly the same as the war in Vietnam. Iraq alone has cost $450 billion." The wars cost approximately $12 billion a month, according to a new Congressional Research Service report.

Meanwhile, Bush is supposed to provide another report to Congress this week on benchmarks achieved by the Iraqi government. It will be a very thin report:

WASHINGTON – A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration’s reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday….

"The facts are not in question," the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft is still under discussion. "The real question is how the White House proceeds with a post-surge strategy in light of the report."