Top Ten Statistics

Number of weeks the Army has reduced basic training to (from 14 weeks), in order to keep up with the pace of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan:

9

Revised length of tour of duty for active-duty soldiers in Iraq, as announced by the Pentagon on April 11 (revised from 12 months):

15 months

Number of National Guard members the Pentagon plans to call up early, so they can be redeployed to Iraq next year:

13,000

Percent of senior captains the Army is currently short:

49 percent

Percent of cases in which the Army failed to meet Pentagon deadlines for processing medical retirement claims to wounded soldiers:

94 percent

Percent of Army hospitals and clinics that do not meet Pentagon standards for processing medical requirements:

61 percent

Number of reports of substandard conditions the Department of Veterans Affairs found in its March review of 1,400 health care facilities:

>1,000

Percent increase in the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder for soldiers who serve more than one tour in Iraq:

50 percent

Percent of its allocated equipment the Kansas National Guard had on hand to respond to the Greensburg tornado:

40 percent

Total number of worldwide global terrorist attacks reported by the U.S. Government’s National Counterterrorism Center in 2006:

14,338

Iraq - Security

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

149,700

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

92

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

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

3,417

Number of U.S. service members reported wounded by the Defense Department:

25,549

Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (November 2003):

5,000

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

70,000

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

$70 - $200 million

Number of Iraqi police and security forces trained and equipped:

348,000

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

Percent of Iraqis who oppose the presence of coalition troops in Iraq:

78 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 disapprove of the way Prime Minister al Maliki is handling

his job:

57 percent

Percent of Sunnis in Iraq who disapprove of the way Prime Minister al Maliki is handling his job:

96 percent

Percent of Iraqis who do not believe that the Iraqi Parliament will be able to make the compromises necessary for national reconciliation:

58 percent

Percent of Iraqis who think that the Iraqi government currently controls the situation

in Iraq:

37 percent

Percent of Iraqis who think that the United States currently controls the situation

in Iraq:

59 percent

Percent of Iraqis who believe that the U.S. and Coalition forces have done a bad job of carrying out their responsibilities in Iraq:

76 percent

Number of corruption cases that have been brought forward since the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity was established in 2004:

2,767

Iraq - Humanitarian

Approximate number of Iraqis being killed every day in the violence:

100

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

34,452

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 fleeing Iraq each month:

90,000

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

40 percent

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

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

42 percent

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

1/3

Iraq - Reconstruction

Estimated nationwide unemployment rate:

25-40 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 May 2007 (barrels per day):

2.17 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

Percent of Iraq’s GDP generated by oil revenues:

67 percent

Electricity capacity in Iraq (in megawatts) prior to invasion (March 2003):

4,000

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:

3,875

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

Terrorism

Operational links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq:

0

Number of significant global terrorist attacks reported by the State Department in 2003:

175

Total number of worldwide global terrorist attacks reported by the U.S. Government’s National Counterterrorism Center in 2004:

3,194

Total number of worldwide global terrorist attacks reported by the U.S. Government’s National Counterterrorism Center in 2005:

11,111

Total number of worldwide global terrorist attacks reported by the U.S. Government’s National Counterterrorism Center in 2006:

14,338

Percent of the Fiscal Year 2007 National Security Budget being spent on Iraq:

21 percent

Percent of the Fiscal Year 2007 National Security Budget being spent on international broadcasting and educational cultural exchanges to win the war of ideas with terrorist groups:

.07

Afghanistan

Number of insurgent attacks in 2005:  

1,558

Number of insurgent attacks in 2006:

4,542

Number of suicide attacks between 2001-2004:

9

Number of suicide attacks in 2005:

27

Number of suicide attacks in 2006:

139

Number of violence-related deaths in Afghanistan in 2006 according to Human Rights Watch:

4,400

Number of Afghan civilians killed in the violence in 2006 according to Human Rights Watch:

>1,000

Percent of schools in the south that have been forced to close due to Taliban attacks:

35 percent

Percent increase in poppy production between 2005-2006:

59 percent

Percent of world’s supply of opium that Afghanistan produces:

92 percent

Of the estimated $3.5 billion in heroin produced by last year’s record opium harvest, amount that went to Afghan farmers:

$700 million

Amount of international aid allocated per person in Afghanistan:

$57

Amount of international aid allocated per person in Iraq:

$206

Reconstruction gap (difference between estimates of what is needed to rebuild Afghanistan and what the international community has pledged in aid) in Afghanistan:

$8.7 billion

Percent of Afghan population that has access to electricity:

6 percent

Percent of Afghan population that has access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation:

39 percent

Out of 178 countries, rank of Afghanistan in the basic index of human development:

173

World Opinion

Percent of surveyed citizens from 25 countries who say that the U.S. is playing a mainly negative role in the world:

49 percent

Percent who believe the U.S. military presence in the Middle East plays a destabilizing role:

68 percent

Percent who disapprove of U.S. handling of the war in Iraq:

73 percent

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Percent of former Soviet nuclear material stockpiles secured under Nunn-Lugar counterproliferation programs:

29

Of the $20 billion the G-8 pledged to raise between 2002 and 2012 to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials, amount that actually has been donated:

3.5 billion

Approximate number of the world’s 130 civilian nuclear reactors that are vulnerable to terrorist theft, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration:

47

·         North Korea

Estimated minimum number of nuclear weapons likely produced by North Korea during the Bush Administration:

4-10

Estimated number produced by North Korea from 1953 to 2000: 

1-2

Estimated amount North Korea currently earns annually from missile exports, mainly to Middle Eastern countries:

$1.5 billion

·         Iran

Number of years before Iran will be able to produce a nuclear weapon, according to media reports on the spring 2005 National Intelligence Estimate:

5-10

Number of centrifuges for enriching uranium that Iran is now operating, according to the IAEA:

1,300

Number of operating centrifuges the IAEA estimates that Iran will have by June:

3,000

Number of years it would take to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon with 3,000 centrifuges in operation:

2

Rank of Iran in the State Department’s report on state-sponsors of terrorism:

1

Number of days the Bush Administration has allowed Iranian nuclear activities to continue without full international verification and monitoring:

2,697

U.S. Military

·         Readiness/Strain

Number of U.S. service members who have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to date:

1,519,269

Number of U.S. service members who have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan more than once:

479,477

Percent increase in the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder for soldiers who serve more than one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan:

50 percent

National Guard and Reserve who have been mobilized as of May 16, 2007:

81,633

Number of National Guard members the Pentagon plans to call up early, so they can be redeployed to Iraq next year:

13,000

Number of Army Brigades the Pentagon has kept beyond their 12 month tour of duty:

10

Revised length of tour of duty for active-duty soldiers in Iraq, as announced by the Pentagon on April 11 (revised from 12 months):

15 months

Portion of Army’s operating force (Reserve and Active-duty) that is reporting as unready:

2/3

Number of non-deployed Army Brigade Combat Teams in the U.S. ready to deploy:

0

Number of weeks the Army has reduced basic training to (from 14), in order to keep up with the pace of deployments:

9

Percent increase in number of National Guard and Reserve members reported to have been reassigned, lost benefits, or been fired from civilian jobs after returning from duty, since 2002:

30 percent

Number of months after U.S. invasion of Iraq that all American soldiers received body armor:

18

Cost to reconstitute equipment lost by the Marine Corps in Iraq:

$12.8 billion

Amount the Marine Corps have received so far for repairing and replacing equipment:  

$5.1 billion

Annual costs of replacing, repairing, and upgrading Army equipment prior to 2001:

$2.5-3 billion

Annual costs of replacing, repairing, and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan for Fiscal Years 2002-2006:

$4 billion

Anticipated cost for replacing, repairing, and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan for Fiscal Year 2007:

$17.1 billion

Anticipated cost for replacing, repairing, and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond Fiscal Year 2007 and for a minimum of 2-3 years after the end of OEF/OIF:

$12-13 billion

Amount of funds the Army is planning to divert from its Future Combat Systems program through 2013 to pay for increased Iraq war costs and expansion of its forces:

$3.4 billion

Equipment modernization shortfall the Army National Guard faces beyond what the Defense Department has identified in its budget projections through FY 2013:

$24 billion

Of this shortfall, amount that is needed just to ensure the Army National Guard can reach its baseline readiness standards:

$13 billion

Portion of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army who said that torture should be allowed if it is useful in obtaining important information about insurgents:

1/3

Percent of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army who reported low morale in their units:

40 percent

·         Recruiting and Retention

Percent of military who approve of the President’s handling of the war in Iraq, according to a 2006 Military Times poll:

35 percent

Percent of military who approved of the President’s handling of the war in Iraq, according to a 2004 Military Times poll:

63 percent

Number of Army soldiers who have been prevented from leaving service due to stop-loss policies:

>70,000

Percent increase in waivers granted to Army recruits with criminal backgrounds since the start of the Iraq war:

65 percent

Percentage of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003:

94 percent

Percentage of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2006:

81 percent

Percentage of Army recruits who met the aptitude test standard in Fiscal Year 2004:

72 percent

Percentage of Army recruits who met the aptitude test standard in Fiscal Year 2006:

61 percent

Average Army reenlistment bonus expenditures for Fiscal Years 2000-2004:

$120 million

Estimated Army reenlistment bonus expenditures for Fiscal Year 2006:

$650 million

Enlistment bonus costs in Fiscal Year 2005:

$166 million

Enlistment bonus costs in Fiscal Year 2006:

$238 million

Reenlistment rate of mid-grade enlisted Army soldiers in 2005:

96 percent

Reenlistment rate of mid-grade enlisted Army soldiers in 2006:

84 percent

Percent of senior captains the Army is currently short:

49 percent

Percent increase in desertion rate for active-duty Army soldiers last year:

27 percent

Percent vacancy rate in active duty psychologists in the Army and Navy:

40 percent

Maximum enlistment age for the U.S. Army today:

42

Maximum enlistment age for the U.S. Army in December 2005:

35

Darfur

Estimated conflict-related deaths since the crisis began in February 2003:

200,000

Approximate number of displaced Darfuris living in refugee camps:

2.2 million

Number of Darfuris forced to flee their homes in 2006 according to the U.N.:

500,000

Total population of the Darfur region:

6 million

Percent increase in attacks on aid workers in the Darfur region last year:

67 percent

Days since the Bush Administration first called the situation “genocide”:

909

Number of war-affected civilians dependent on food and medical aid:

3.5 million

Homeland Security

·         Aviation Security 

Percent of 21 tested airports that GAO inspectors were able to smuggle bomb components past TSA screeners in March 2006:

100

Amount TSA spends on security for each air travel passenger:

$9

Amount the federal government has spent on aviation security since 2003:

$20 billion

Amount TSA will spend this year on securing air passengers and carry-on baggage:

$5 billion

Amount TSA will spend this year to secure air cargo on passenger airplanes:

$55 million

·         Rail and Mass Transit

Factor by which passengers on mass transit systems exceed passengers on airlines:

16

Funding per passenger the Bush Administration has spent to secure mass transit systems since September 11, 2001:

$0.01

Cost of security upgrades needed to protect rail and transit systems as estimated by U.S. transit authorities:

$6 billion

Approximate amount the federal government has invested in rail and mass transit security since 2003:

$400 million

Amount the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 budget request included for rail and transit security:

$175 million

·         Chemical Security

Deadlines set by the Bush Administration for the implementation of new federal security requirements for high-risk chemical plants:

0

Approximate number of chemical facilities in the U.S.: 

15,000

Number of chemical facilities at which a terrorist strike could threaten the lives of over 1 million people:

123

Approximate number of chemical facilities at which a terrorist attack could threaten the lives of more than 1,000 people:

3,400

Number of Americans who are in harm’s way of railroad cars carrying toxic

chlorine gas:

> 25 million

·         Port Security

Percent of 11 million cargo containers that arrive at U.S. ports each year inspected: 

5

Percent of cargo inspected for WMD: 

<1

Estimated economic impact of a terrorist attack on a major U.S. port:

$60 billion

Estimated economic impact of a terrorist on a major U.S. port involving nuclear weapons:

$1 trillion

Number of inspectors Department of Homeland Security has to certify and validate more than 10,000 shipping companies’ applications under C-TPAT:

80

Number of inspectors Coast Guard relies on to conduct security compliance checks at 135 foreign ports:

20

Amount the Coast Guard estimated it would cost over ten years for ports to implement port security standards required under the Maritime Transportation and Security Act:

$5.4 billion

Amount the Bush Administration and Republican Congress have allocated for port security upgrades in first five years of funding:

$816 million

Amount the SAFE Port Act (P.L. 109-347) authorized in security grant funding:

$400 million

Amount the President allocated to port security grants in his Fiscal Year 2008 budget request:

$2.4 million

·         Border Security

Estimated cost of implementation of the REAL ID Act to states, according to the National Governor’s Association:

$11 billion

Percent decrease in apprehensions of illegal border crossers during Bush Administration:

30

Number of new border patrol agents the 9/11 Act authorized each year for Fiscal Years 2006-2010:

2,000

Number of border patrol agents funded for Fiscal Year 2007:

1,000

Percentage of illegal border crossers the Border Patrol can handle under current staffing levels:

10

·         Disaster Preparedness

Number of states DHS rated as having sufficient disaster plans:

10 percent

Of the 75 U.S. metropolitan areas assessed, number of cities that DHS gave the highest rating for interoperable communications in its January 2007 scorecard:

6

Percent of Army National Guard forces in the United States that are very poorly equipped according to the National Guard Bureau:

88 percent

Amount in equipment funding the National Guard estimates it would require to restore domestic Army and Air units to full readiness:

$38 billion

Amount the Army has budgeted to augment National Guard equipment through 2011:

$21 billion

Percent of National Guard equipment currently available for domestic emergency response, according to the National Guard Bureau:

34

Percent of necessary equipment generally available to National Guard, according to the GAO:

65-79

Veterans

Number of reports of substandard conditions the Department of Veterans Affairs found in its March review of 1,400 health care facilities:

>1,000

Number of additional OEF/OIF veterans the President’s budget anticipates will seek VA care in Fiscal Year 2008:

54,000

Number of additional OEF/OIF veterans the Veterans Affairs Committee (majority staff) anticipates will seek VA care in Fiscal Year 2008:

104,000

Anticipated cost of providing medical care and disability benefits to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts:

$349.8 - $662.8 billion

Number of the 1.4 million Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have left active duty and become eligible for VA health care through August 2006:

631,174

Number of these veterans seeking health care from VA hospitals, through
September 2006:

205,097 or

32 percent

Percent of OIF/OEF veterans seen by VA for mental disorders through September 2006:

35.7 percent

Number of OIF/OEF veterans seen for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through September 2006:

33,754

Percent increase in returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans visiting Vet Centers between 2004 and 2006:

242 percent

Percent increase in clinic staff at Vet Centers between 2004 and 2006:

<10 percent

Estimated number of veterans denied access to VA health services since the Bush Administration imposed a ban on Priority 8 veterans:

1 million

Total Compensation and Pension Claims Backlog as of May 12, 2007:

638,414

Percent of these claims pending for more than 6 months:

28.2 percent

Average number of days it takes the Veterans Benefits Administration to process an original claim:

177 days

Average number of days it takes the Veterans Benefits Administration to process an appeal:

657 days

Unemployment rate for veterans age 20-24:

15.6 percent

Unemployment rate for non-veterans age 20-24:

8.7 percent

Approximate number of veterans who are currently homeless:

200,000

Democracy and Development

Percent of U.S. funds dedicated to international development initiatives, as compared to military spending:

1

Total amount appropriated to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) so far:

$5.9 billion

Total aid awarded by the MCC so far:

$3 billion

Average amount per year to be distributed through the eleven compact agreements signed so far:

$750 million

Annual amount President Bush promised for the MCA:

$5 billion

Average amount requested in President Bush’s annual budgets since he proposed the MCA:

$2.56 billion

Number of the world’s ten least developed nations with whom the United States has signed an MCC compact:

2

Number of the world’s 40 poorest nations with whom the United States has signed an MCA compact:

5

Rank of U.S. among 21 developed nations in foreign assistance spending measured as a percentage of Gross National Product:

20

Number of children dying each day from preventable diseases:

29,000

Percentage of the world’s population living on less than $2 per day:

50