In addition to the 4,524 dead soldiers, 31,952 soldiers were wounded, and a few hundred thousand Iraqis were killed or wounded. And it only cost $2 trillion, so far. The medical benefits to the soldiers and families will ultimately drive the total cost over $5 trillion. And what exactly did we accomplish?
You will find more statistics at Statista
As an Amazon Associate I Earn from Qualifying Purchases
Well Northrup Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics and Raytheon thank you.
According to Dick Cheney the total cost was only going to be 80 billion and Iraq was going to pay for that with free oil.
Why would he lie?
What we got: regional destablization. Other dictators overthrown. Rise of terrorist groups who hate the U.S. for what we did to their countries, families and future. A strengthened Iran. Extremism in Saudi Arabia. The chance to overthrow another “dictator” that would put us in direct conflict with Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia — which could possibly lead to a world war.
What, you want more than that?
[/img]
[img
A question for you guys.We essentially had the war won in 07/08-if Obama had not basically surrendered,would we be believing that it was a war we should not have been involved in?
I was opposed to the war from the get go. It was obvious from the start that Bush / Cheney were hell bent to get their hands on the Iraqi oil to benefit their handlers. If you’ll remember the “secret meetings” Cheney had with energy executives leading up to the war it was pretty much how they were going to cut the pie. The war was sold as defending freedom, spreading democracy, and keeping mericka safe. All lies. The WMD scare was a sham – there were teams on the ground verifying no WMD’s present, past teams stating there were none. The “yellow cake” uranium purchase was lie spread by a none other than “curve ball” who wanted to be president post Saddam. It was a lie and power and money grab. Obama didn’t help by pulling out but the Iraqi government refused to provide immunity to our troops for actions in the field – no army would have stayed. In the power vacuum in a tribal society civil war was inevitable, now morphing into a caliphate.
I view the Iraq blunder and the subsequent 07 – 09 financial crash as the biggest heist of both U.S. treasure and blood in history. Not so much of a bleet from the sheep, and if so then they were tarred as unpatriotic.
Now I’m no Obama fan and he hasn’t helped either – his stance and actions / inaction on Syria, overthrow of Ghaddafi in Libya (Iraq lite), arab spring in Egypt (worse shape now than before), support of Saudi Arabia in their war in Yemen, brokering with Turkey who are openly against about the only group that provides us with support (kurds).
Iraq was the first gift of a string of gifts to the oligarchs and MIC that will keep giving until the whole thing unravels.
To answer your question – it was a mistake and continues to be a mistake.
Barack Obama did not surrender.
The withdrawal of troops from Iraq was agreed upon by George W. Bush. There was a Status of Forces Agreement and the new Iraqi government wanted our troops to eventually leave.
I have plenty of reasons to criticize Obama, but Iraq isn’t one of them. Bush turned that country into a hellish cesspool of death and destruction without anybody having ever heard of Obama. If anything, the one war that can truly be called Obama’s is Afghanistan.
Fake news much?
Go play, child.
yeah, we had the war “won”, just like in Afghanistan.
jesus, you think if a foreign country occupied America we would just stop fighting??? same in Iraq and Afghanistan
Good overview of what we’ve done:
I don’t blame the hornets…
The video above is before Bush but after Bill Clinton ordered the US Air Force to bomb the Iraqi sewage treatment and water treatment facilities, then embargo medicines and chemicals for purifying water. I heard about the order at the time and really thought that “The Air Force will NEVER follow that order! That is a violation of international rules of war! They’ll tell him to F off!” Well, I was disappointed. I seem to remember that the estimate was 500,000 dead children under the age of six, mostly dead of disease and malnutrition. Take that number with a grain of salt, since it comes from the UN. Heck, it may have only been 250,000 dead children…
Wow, imagine bombing non existant waste and water treatment facilities. How would I know this? Because in 1986-89 none existed anywhere in Iraq.
So Am I to believe you or my lying eyes.
By the way I am really impressed with the figure of 500,000 dead children which would mean that about one out of every 7 children died. Without morgues or refrigeration facilities the stench would have been overpowering.
But hey what’s a lie among friends? Its all in a porgressive cause.
By 1991, Iraq under Saddam Hussein had become a modern and stable secular state in which virtually everyone had access to electricity and water. There were very much water treatment facilities in Iraq at that time.
You apparently don’t want to believe that half a million children died, but when Madeline Albright was interviewed on national tv about such a death tally as being “worth it,” she said that she thought it was worth it.
Albright was a warmongerer, but I speculate that she was more familiar with US policy toward Iraq than your posts have proven you not to be.
baldies are BAD, and they can grow, then inhabit, a nest within 24
hours. Least ways that is what the pest guy said.
I’d rather have baldies than yellow jackets. I call them blue jackets. They mainly leave you alone until you fuck with their nest. Yellow jackets are just assholes who never leave you alone….like libtards.
Don’t forget the hundreds of thousands of civilians that were killed in order to save them. That must be worth something.
I’ll tell you what we’ve fucking accomplished. Iraq won’t be challenging Israel again any time soon. Two trillion is a fucking bargain for that if you axe me.
Israel can take care of itself. Or, if they are too timid,
they can pay us the 2 trillion for services rendered.
1. A couple of thousand dead US troops.
2. Dozens of thousands of maimed/blinded/cripple US troops.
3. At one point, 4 million (out of a population of 25 million) Iraqis who were displaced, and 2 million went to Syria (which isn’t easy to believe given now Syria is the country which sends out war refugees).
4. Hundreds of billions of US dollars gone, with tons of money going to local Iraqi leaders (often given directly by US troops) to make local fighters stop attacking US troops. This was part of the “Surge.”
5. For the first time in history, an Arab country ruled by Shias – which terrified Egypt, Jordan, Syria, as all Arab countries in modern times were ruled by Sunnis.
6. The elevation of Iran to the most influential and powerful country in the Middle East (excluding Israel). Iran has gained considerable leverage and influence in Iraq – secular Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a “buffer” protecting those secular Arab states I just named. This influence has meant that Iranian-trained forces and even Iran’s Revolutionary Guards went to Iraq to fight Islamic State (which can only build political capital for Iran in the long run, as Islamic State is an enemy of the government of Iraq).
7. Damaged credibility: America had tons of goodwill after 9/11, but George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq wasted all that. The fact we never found WMDs (which were never there to begin with, not since the mid-late 1990s anyway) only made it worse.
8. Increased anti-US sentiment: images of Abu Gharib only incensed Arabs and Muslims, who whether justified or not, began to hate us for how those foolish US soldiers humiliated Iraqis.
9. Al-Qaeda and Islamic State entered Iraq. The latter did not even exist; the former did not operate or exist in Iraq before that war. With the power vacuum generated by Saddam Hussein’s downfall, Islamist radicals flooded Iraq. Iraq, until then a secular country, witnessed the “Islamization” of its societies; women were no longer allowed to attend universities and to wear western clothing; Iraqi Christians (who were allowed to worship freely during Saddam’s time) were threatened with death if they did not convert to Islam or leave their towns.
10. Potential blowback for the future: it is possible that the colossal human suffering incurred by Iraqi civilians due to the 2003 invasion has sown the seeds of profound anti-American hatred which has not only created new jihadis, but it has created the image of an anti-Arab/anti-Muslim America which will lie to then bomb towns and cities, killing and maiming dozens if not hundreds of thousands.
Thanks for nothing, George W. Bush. You like your successor were a horrible president.
Nice job! haven’t heard anything like this since Bghdad Bob told us of Saddam’s slaughter of American troops or Hillary’s explanation that Nenghazi was due to a video!
So how long have you been employed by MSNBC?
And what’s it like blowing Obama? Inquiring minds want to know.
“Nice job! haven’t heard anything like this since Bghdad Bob told us of Saddam’s slaughter of American troops or Hillary’s explanation that Nenghazi was due to a video!”
Work on your spelling.
“So how long have you been employed by MSNBC?”
An unintelligent and vacuous comment.
“And what’s it like blowing Obama? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Michelle might know, but her relationship with Barack is none of our business.
Posts like these abounded during the Bush administration whenever I wrote comments against that war – then, I was tagged as “anti-American,” “terrorist sympathizer,” and “communist.”
Now that you’ve admitted your a red diaper baby why can’t you defend any of the moronic comments you have made? But you do entertain us with a display of such monumental ignorance and misinformation that it is clear you are a researcher for MSNBC.
-Clearly such a brillant individual such as yourself can explain why Obama has wasted billions and killed so many through his actions and inactions?
-Dozens of thousands of crippled troops. Really work on your grammar? Is English your first language. Do you have any idea of how many troops were actually crippled? Why not ask Huffpo your usual source for infor or Baghdad Bob.
-4 million people displaced-really do you know the total population of Iraq cretin?
-Wow we have a history major-obviously Havard. Muslims have never waged war on other Msulims and Shias and Sunnis love each other.
Obviously as valid as all your other assertions, just a bit more precise and crazed, but not by much.
-A master strategist too, or at least in the Obama administration. Clearly the movement of Iranians into Iraq was inresponse to Bush’s actions and had nothing to do with Democratic policies that put radicals into power in Tehran. Their expansion throughout the Middle East is solely due to Bush rather than the masterful policies of Obama that has burned down the Middle East. Tell us about your extensive study of military strategy, skippy.
Every comment you make demonstrates why libtards need safe spaces and coloring books.
-I know you are working that brain cell to death but you may not know, not having set foot anywhere near the Middle East, aside from Ali’s House of Sharma, that Saddam was Terrorist Center, and he supported, financed, and trained every terror group in the Middle East. To say Al Queda didn’t exist in the Middle East is like saying the Brooklyn Dodgers never played in LA, the names may change but the players remain cretin.
Having demonstrated your credentials as a world famous nancyboy we can all undersyand your ignorance.
We just wonder about your need to parade it so officially.
Has there ever been a more debunked phrase than “never found WMD.” It may have escaped that one brain cell you have but the USG paid over 200 million to deactivate various nerve agents, while the British also destroyed tons of the stuff. Tons of raw nuclear materials had been accumulated-because the term yellowcake means according to libtards-dessert. Once again you surpass yourself.
-The Middle East always esteemd and loved the US till we invaded Iraq. Right, I am so awed by this statement one just has to acknowledge the size of your reasoning ability and knowledge.
One must conclude you set up Hildabeast’s email system.
-If one doubted your sanity one only read that there is the possibility for blowback. You mean on the scale of 9-11 skippy?
Such gigantic ignorance combined with arrogance is a rare thing but we have seen it in Obama. Both you and he need to seek help. Both demonstrate a special view of history. Both have a unique ability to torture the truth till the audience begs for you to end the torment.
So please just consult Howard zinn or the SPLC. Even they are more in touch with reality than your keepers can hope you’ll ever be.
ah yes, another chickenhawk.
you need to march down to your local Army recruiting center and SIGN UP
Tell us about your military service there fag. Was it buggering Obama’s goats or was it just buggering Saddam’s sheep.
One does tire of such infantile comments from the unlettered, uncultured, posseurs.
All we did was go on over there and fuck up everything humanly possible at the highest dollar cost per fuck up and wave the flag and tag the poor guys and girls that were dooped into serving their country for this fools errand by convincing these impressionable young minds what “Some Kind of Hero They Will Be” ! As they return in body bags wheel chairs or mental wards the real cost mounts up but remember BOHICA your country talks big shit but THEY don’t give a fuck about you not as long as the stock market profits the circle jerk from Wall Street to K street to Capital street as for you Mr or Ms Hero think of yourself like a Dixie cup use once , throw away !
Your the kid of person who voted for Obama and is cheering him on as he invades and bombs every nation in sight. You can’t have a warmonger unless you have a progressive looking to create utopia by killing all those who disagree with him.
If you doubt this who has wasted more money on foreign wars Bush or the Faggot from Kenya?