Democrats.senate.gov
Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal

May 7, 2007

The Iraq Accountability Project: This Week's Senate Oversight on Iraq

The American people demanded a change of course in Iraq, and the 110th Congress intends to press President Bush to provide it. As President Bush and Senate Republicans continue to support a failed stay-the- course policy in Iraq, Senate Democrats are determined to hold the President accountable.

This Week in the Senate 

Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
The committee will hear testimony on the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Budget Request.

Location:        Senate Dirksen Building Rm. 192, 10:30AM
Witnesses:      The Honorable Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense
General Peter Pace, USMC, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

 

Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs
A hearing on benefits legislation.

Location:        Senate Dirksen Building Rm. 562, 9:30AM
Witnesses:      TBD

 

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Violent Islamist Extremism: Government Efforts to Defeat It

Location:        Senate Dirksen Office Building Rm. 342, 2:30PM
Witnesses:      TBD 

This Week in Iraq

Iraq - Security

 

Approximate number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq:

149,700

Percent of coalition forces contributed by the U.S.:

92

Number of additional U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq, according to the President’s surge plan:

28,700

Number of additional U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the President’s surge plan:

Up to 48,000

Estimated cost of troop surge plan according to the Bush Administration:

$5.6 billion

Estimated cost of troop surge plan according to CBO’s analysis:

Up to $27 billion

Approximate amount appropriated by Congress for Iraq operations so far:       

>$450 billion

Estimated total cost of operations in Iraq by war’s end:

$549 billion - $2.26 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 (including operational and investment costs): 

$8.6 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:

3,360

Number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq in April 2007:

104

Number reported wounded by the Defense Department:

25,090

Number of National Guard soldiers killed in Iraq through March 24, 2007:

415

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:

6,555

Number of journalists killed in Iraq:

98

Number of journalists killed in Vietnam:

63

Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (November 2003):

5,000

Estimated strength of Sunni insurgency (including non-operational supporters):

70,000

Percent of insurgent fighters in Iraq who are foreign-born:

4-10 percent

Funds the insurgency in Iraq is now able to raise annually from illegal activities, including kidnappings and oil smuggling:

$70 - $200 million

Percent increase in terrorist incidents in Iraq between 2005 and 2006:

91 percent

 

Percent of attacks directed at Coalition forces:

68 percent

Percent of Iraqis who approve of attacks on Coalition forces:

51 percent

Number of Iraqi police and security forces trained and equipped:

333,100

Rate of attrition for Iraqi police, according to the Pentagon:

30 percent

Rate of desertion for Iraqi soldiers deployed to combat areas outside their normal area of operation:

>50 percent

Number of guns paid for by the U.S. for Iraq’s security forces that are unaccounted for:

>14,000

Percent of Iraqis who view the security environment as bad or very bad, according to a February/March 2007 survey:

53 percent

Percent of Iraqis who say they have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops according to a February/March 2007 survey: 

18 percent

 

 

Iraq – Political

 

Percent of Iraqis who say that their lives are generally good (according to a February/March 2007 poll):

39 percent

Percent of Iraqis surveyed in a similar poll in 2005 who said that their lives are generally good:

71 percent

Percent of Iraqis who believe the overall situation in Iraq is bad or very bad:

66 percent

Percent of Iraqi Sunnis disapprove of the way Prime Minister al-Maliki is handling his job, according to a March poll:

96 percent

Number of Iraqi security forces the Ministry of Interior recently fired after finding them guilty of torture, taking bribes, and having links to militias:

10,000

Percent of Iraq Ministry of Interior staff who are “ghost employees”:

20-30 percent

Annual cost of corruption to Iraq’s economy:

>$5 billion

Number of corruption-related investigations Iraq’s Ministry of Interior opened in 2006 alone:

3,403

Percent of U.S. reconstruction budget allocated to anti-corruption initiatives:

.03 percent or $65 million

Iraq - Humanitarian

 

 

Estimated number of Iraqi civilians killed in the violence since U.S.-led invasion, according to Iraq’s Minister of Health:

150,000

 

Number of Iraqi civilians killed in the violence in 2006, according to the U.N.:

34,452

 

Estimated number of Iraqi civilians being killed each day:

100

 

Approximate number of Iraqis who have fled the country since 2003:

2 million

 

Approximate number of Iraqis who have been internally displaced since 2003:

900,000

 

Approximate number of Iraqis who are being displaced each month:

90,000

 

The number of new Iraqi passports issued since August 2005:

> 2 million

 

Percent of Iraq’s professional class that has left the country since late 2003:

40 percent

 

Approximate number of Iraqis who have fled to Jordan:

700,000-750,000

 

Approximate number of Iraqis who have fled to Syria:

600,000 – 1 million

 

Number of Iraqis who have been granted entry to the United States since 2003: 

466

 

Annual Iraq budget of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 2003:

$150 million

 

Annual Iraq budget of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 2006:

$29 million

 

Number of Baghdad residents polled in a March survey say they have experienced the kidnapping of a family member or relative in the past three years:

23 percent

 

Number of Iraqi physicians registered prior to the invasion:

34,000

 

Number of Iraqi physicians who have been murdered, kidnapped, or fled the country since the invasion:

14,250

 

Portion of Iraq’s population that currently lives in poverty, according to the UNDP:

1/3

 

Infant mortality rate in Iraq: (Middle East average is 37, sub-Saharan Africa average is 105)

102

 

Percent of Iraqi children who are chronically malnourished:

21 percent

 

Percent of Iraqi elementary-age children who attended school last year, according to the Iraq Ministry of Education:

75 percent

 

Percent of Iraqi elementary-age children who are attending school now, according to the Iraq Ministry of Education:

30 percent

 

 

 

 

Iraq - Reconstruction

 

 

Percent of Iraqis who rate their family’s economic conditions as poor:

64 percent

 

Estimated unemployment rate, according to the Pentagon:

13.4 – 60 percent

 

Percent of Baghdadis surveyed in a January 2007 poll who said that their current income meets their basic needs:

16 percent

 

Estimated number of jobs created by aid efforts:

< 140,000

 

Estimated number of Iraqis still being paid not to work:

600,000

 

Average rate of inflation in Iraq:

50 percent

 

Of the $57 billion in contract funds for Iraq reconstruction aid, the amount the U.S. government has squandered due to contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses:

$10 billion

 

Of these $10 billion in overpriced contracts and unsupported expenses, amount that was charged by Halliburton:

$2.7 billion

 

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

 

Oil production for April 2007 (barrels per day):

2.14 million

 

Average oil production 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

 

Portion of Iraq’s GDP generated by oil revenues:

2/3

 

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 May 2007:

4,000

 

Average number of daily hours of electricity nationwide:

14 hours

 

Average number of daily hours of electricity in Baghdad:

6.5 hours

 

Average number of daily hours of electricity in Baghdad prior to 2003:

16-24

 

Percent of Iraqis who lack regular access to clean water:

70 percent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCES

 

Iraq – Security

1.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
2.  The Brookings Institution Iraq Index reports that there were approximately 12,220 non-U.S., non-Iraqi troops in Iraq as of May 2007.  May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
3. Washington Post, 3/19/07.
4. Congressional Budget Office, February 1, 2007. (http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=7778&sequence=0)
5. Reuters, 1/11/07.
6. Congressional Budget Office, February 1, 2007. (http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=7778&sequence=0)
7.  Senate Appropriations Committee Majority Staff, estimate includes funding provided in the Senate-approved emergency supplemental bill (H.R. 1591).
8.  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, in the December 2006 Milken Institute Review (http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/review/2006_12/76_83mr32.pdf)
9.  Christian Science Monitor, 8/29/05.
10. 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, last updated March 14, 2007.
11.  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, last updated September 22, 2006.
12.  DoD Casualty Report (http://www.dod.gov/news/casualty.pdf) May 7, 2007.
13.  Associated Press, 4/30/07.
14. DoD Casualty Report (http://www.dod.gov/news/casualty.pdf) May 7, 2007.
15. As of March 24, 2007.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
16.  New York Daily News, 7/5/05.
17. As of May 2, 2007.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
18.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
19.  New York Times, 5/30/06.
20.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
21.  Cordesman, Anthony. “Reconstruction in Iraq: The Uncertain Way Ahead.” CSIS, updated January 19, 2007. (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070119_iraq_reconstruction.pdf)
22. McClatchy, 5/06/07.
23. New York Times, 11/26/06.
24. Washington Post, 5/1/07.  Statistics compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center – there were 3,468 attacks in Iraq in 2005 and 6,630 in 2006.
25. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, 11/30/06 (http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010Quarterly-Report-20061216.pdf).
26. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)
27. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, March 2007. (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/pdf/9010_March_2007_Final_Signed.pdf).
28. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, 11/30/06 (http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010Quarterly-Report-20061216.pdf).
29. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, 11/30/06 (http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/9010Quarterly-Report-20061216.pdf).
30. The Times, 1/19/07.
31. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)
32. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)

Iraq – Political

1. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)
2. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)
3. BBC News, 3/19/07. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6464277.stm)
4. According to a March 2007 Poll by D3 Systems for BBC, ABD, ARD German TV and USA Today, cited in the Brookings Institution Iraq Index, April 26, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
5. USA Today, 3/5/07.
6. GAO-07-426T, 2/15/07. (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07426t.pdf)
7.  Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report, April 2007. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/pdf/Report_-_April_2007_Complete.pdf)
8.  Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, March 2007. (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/pdf/9010_March_2007_Final_Signed.pdf).
9. London Review of Books, 11/2/06.

Iraq - Humanitarian

1. UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, Quarterly Human Rights Report, 10/31/06. (http://www.uniraq.org/documents/HR%20Report%20Sep%20Oct%202006%20EN.pdf) (there is no official number – estimates vary widely.  Other estimates include: 60,754 Iraq Body Count (not including deaths during major combat operations in 2003) (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/) accessed on 1/29/07).
2. New York Times, 1/16/07.
3. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf) An estimated 3,070 Iraqi civilians were killed in March.
4.  UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, 25 April 2007. (http://www.uniraq.org/FileLib/misc/HR%20Report%20Jan%20Mar%202007%20EN.pdf)
5.  Refugees International, 3/22/07.
6. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
7. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
8. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
9. Washington Post, 1/17/07.
10. Washington Post, 1/17/07.
11. Los Angeles Times, 1/17/07.
12. Brookings Institution, 1/4/07.(http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/cohenr/20070104.htm)
13. Brookings Institution, 1/4/07.(http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/cohenr/20070104.htm)
14. According to a March 2007 Poll by Opinion Research Business, cited in the Brookings Institution Iraq Index, April 5, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
15. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
16. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 32007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
17. UN News Centre, 2/18/07.
18. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)
19. New York Times, 4/18/07.
20. Newsweek, 1/22/07.
21. Newsweek, 1/22/07.

Iraq - Reconstruction

1.  Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, March 2007. (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/pdf/9010_March_2007_Final_Signed.pdf).
2. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, March 2007. (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/pdf/9010_March_2007_Final_Signed.pdf).
3. Department of Defense, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, March 2007. (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/pdf/9010_March_2007_Final_Signed.pdf).
4. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, April 5, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
5. Cordesman, Anthony. “Reconstruction in Iraq: The Uncertain Way Ahead.” CSIS, updated January 19, 2007. (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070119_iraq_reconstruction.pdf)
6. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report, April 2007. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/pdf/Report_-_April_2007_Complete.pdf)
7. Cordesman, Anthony. “Reconstruction in Iraq: The Uncertain Way Ahead.” CSIS, updated January 19, 2007. (http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070119_iraq_reconstruction.pdf)
8. Associated Press, 2/15/07.
9. GAO-06-885T, 7/19/06.
10. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
11. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
12.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
13. Department of Defense, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq, November 2006.  http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Iraq_Reports/Index.html
14.  Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
15. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3, 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).
16. Brookings Institution Iraq Index, May 3 2007. (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf).  (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Oct06/Default.aspx
17. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report, April 2007. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/pdf/Report_-_April_2007_Complete.pdf)
18. Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, Quarterly Report, April 2007. (http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/pdf/Report_-_April_2007_Complete.pdf)
19. Center for American Progress, Think Progress.org, October 18, 2006. (http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/18/iraq-electricity/)
20. New York Times, 4/18/07.

 

« Back to Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal

America Speaks Out on the Iraq War

Today in the Senate
December 12, 2008:

The Senate stands in recess for pro forma sessions only, with no business conducted on the following days and times: Friday, December 12 at 10:00 a.m.; Tuesday, December 16 at 11:00 a.m.; Friday, December 19 at 10:00 a.m.; Tuesday, December 23 at 11:00 a.m.; Friday, December 26 at 11:00 a.m.; Tuesday, December 30 at 10:30 a.m.; and Friday, January 2 at 10:00 a.m.

At the close of the pro forma Session on January 2, 2009, the Senate will stand adjourned sine die.

 

Senate Floor Calendar...

 

 

 

En Espa�ol Home