Three Trillion Dollar War » Casualty Reports & FOIA

Army suicides hit record number in June 2010

Linda — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:51:33 +0000

The number of Army suicides in June 2010 was the highest number in a single month since the Vietnam era. Thirty-two troops are believed to have committed suicide. Of those, 21 were on active duty, seven were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, and eleven were not on active-duty. See: the Department of Defense said.

Last year, a record-breaking 245 soldiers committed suicide. The Army seems on track to surpass that number this year, as 145 soldiers have taken their lives in the first half of 2010. These statistics do not include the number of veterans who end their own lives. That figure surged 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to the Veterans Affairs Department.

SIGIR finds money for democracy-building in Iraq is misspent

Linda — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:49:16 +0000

The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), issued a new report today looking at the use of grant funds given to the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute. The majority of the $250 million over five years in grants was supposed to help in building democracy, but instead it was largely spent on security and overhead costs.

Only 41 percent of the $114 million in the 7 DRL grants reviewed by SIGIR (there were 12 total) actually went to the programs. IRI’s money went heavily to security (57.2%) with about 7% on overhead; while NDI spent about one-third on security (32.7%) but more on indirect overhead costs (17%).

Read the report: http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/10-012.pdf

Total casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 90,000

Linda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:43:11 +0000

90000 Casualties, but Who’s Counting?

Antiwar.com – Kelley B. Vlahos – ?Nov 9, 2009?

Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz have identified two scenarios in their book, The Three Trillion Dollar War (2008). One scenario estimates a long-term cost …

Five US soldiers killed in Mosul: war deaths approach 5000

Linda — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:52:30 +0000

Despite improvements in the security situation, Iraq is still a very dangerous and violent place.

A suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters in Mosul on April 11, killing five US solders, 3 Iraqis, and injuring 60 others. It was the second suicide attack on a police base in Mosul in the past 2 weeks — the previous one on March 31st killed 8 people.

Earlier in the week, President Obama visited Baghdad (where the poor security situation still forces US dignitaries to make only “surprise” visits) and touted recent security gains. But the day before Obama arrived, 36 people were killed in six separate car bombings in Baghdad alone.

The latest bombings brings the total US troops killed in Iraq to 4271. In Afghanistan, 672 US troops have been killed, which brings the total to 4941 — almost 5000.

While the numbers of US troops being killed in Iraq has dropped during the past year, the death rate in Afghanistan is increasing. The deteriorating situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region is largely due to the fact that the US neglected this vital area during the past 5 years while it has been preoccupied with Iraq.

40% of US troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan troops require medical treatment

Linda — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:18:19 +0000

The latest information from Veterans for Common Sense shows a continued increase in the number of veterans who are seeking medical care from VA hospitals and clinics, and another steep increase in the number of returning troops who are diagnosed with mental health conditions.

The latest numbers show tha4 347,750 (40% of all patients) have been treated at VA medical facilities.

147,744 have been treated for mental health problems, of whom about half have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For complete records, see:

VCS Releases New VA Fact Sheet: VA Treated 350,000 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

The Three Trillion Dollar War

admin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:22:32 +0000

This website is inspired by the book The Three Trillion Dollar War and will continue to tell the story of the costs of this war. Apart from its tragic human toll, the Iraq War will be staggeringly expensive in financial terms. In The Three Trillion Dollar War, Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes cast a spotlight on expense items that have been hidden from the U.S. taxpayer, including not only big-ticket items like replacing military equipment (being used up at six times the peacetime rate) but also the cost of caring for thousands of wounded veterans—for the rest of their lives. Shifting to a global focus, the authors investigate the cost in lives and economic damage within Iraq and the region. Finally, with the chilling precision of an actuary, the authors measure what the U.S. taxpayer’s money would have produced if instead it had been invested in the further growth of the U.S. economy. Written in language as simple as the details are disturbing, this book will forever change the way we think about the war.

Buy the book here.
Read more about Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes.
Selected book reviews and articles about The Three Trillion Dollar War.
Interviews with Stiglitz and Bilmes about The Three Trillion Dollar War.
“War at Any Cost? The Total Economic Costs of the War Beyond the Federal Budget,” written testimony for the Joint Economic Committee, February 28, 2008 (PDF)
“The $3 Trillion War,” an excerpt from the book, in Vanity Fair, April 2008 issue.