Iraq War Statistics & Results at February 2006

As I write this, Baghdad and three surrounding provinces are locked down with a 24-hour curfew, and everyone confined to their homes except for walking to local mosques. Many claim that this week, Iraq officially slipped into civil war, but other experts have claimed that for the past year.

This surge in violence was sparked by a blast two days that destroyed the Golden Mosque in Samarra, a sacred Shiite shrine. The mosque contains the remains of Imam Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 AD, and his son Imam Hassan al-Askari, who died in 874 AD. Both were descendants of the Prophet Muhammed. In retaliation, over 100 Sunni Muslim mosques were attacked, and at least 15 Sunni religious leaders killed.

While Shiites and Sunni leaders blame each other for the devastation, insiders agree that US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzamay enflamed the tinderbox with statements he made on February 20 about sectarian groups.
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This week, Gallup's latest national poll showed that 55% of Americans now call the Iraq War a "mistake."

And when asked to assess the progress of the war, only 31% say the United States and its allies are winning the war – the lowest Gallup has measured to date.

Through February 22, 2006, 2,297 US soliders have been killed in this conflict, and almost 17,000 US soldiers seriously wounded and often afflicted with permanent disabilities. And here's an interesting new statistic.....61 journalists have been killed in Iraq, 14 of them by US forces.

Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has just requested another $120 billion in war funding to tide them over for 2006. If Congress blesses this request, war funding during the Bush Administratiion would be close to a half-trillion of taxpayers' money.

For a thorough yet quick-reading review of the Iraq War, read my article Iraq War Made Simple - Statistics & Results as of February 2006.

Also, an excellent new article for your reading is What Civil War Could Look Like by the New York Times on February 26, 2006.
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I end this post with a succinct quote from Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), a 37-year veteran of the US Marines, made in December 2005...

"I said over a year ago, and now the military and the Administration agrees, Iraq can not be won militarily....I believe the same today. But I have concluded that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is impeding this progress.

Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. U.S. troops are the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign jihadists....

A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis."
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Related Articles
-- Iraq War Vote in 2002: 156 Congress Members Who Voted NO
-- Full Text of Rep. John Murtha's Plan to Exit Iraq Now
-- Iraq Made Simple - Statistics & Results as of February 2006
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