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March 18, 2008
John McCain Supports a 100-Year War in Iraq at the Expense of Alaska's Families
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. John McCain has marched in lockstep with President Bush every step of the way, echoing the misleading rhetoric used to make the case for war, parroting the president's rosy rhetoric even as Iraq was descending into civil war, and now arguing that American troops could be in Iraq for 100 years. 
While John McCain has promised four more years of President Bush's failed policies, Alaskans are feeling the cost of the war here at home-a war that has made us less safe while diverting critical resources from Alaska's priorities. [Wall Street Journal, 3/13/08] Since the beginning of the war, almost 4,000 brave men and women in uniform have lost their lives, including 17 from Alaska. Since September 2001, nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, including 1,110 members of the Army Guard and 1,181 Air National Guard members from Alaska, making it more difficult for Alaska to respond to natural disasters and crises in the state. [icasualties.org; Department of Defense, 1/31/08] And as the economy continues to slide into what Alan Greenspan said could be the worst slow-down since World War II, John McCain's endless war in Iraq is draining economic resources that would help Alaska's working families. A recent study shows the Iraq war is now costing U.S. taxpayers $12 billion dollars a month-that means that for the cost of less than a week in Iraq, we could hire 51,000 police officers to make America safer; for four months in Iraq, we could get low-income kids health care for five years; and for just three weeks in Iraq, we could enroll 1.4 million kids in Head Start and get them the education they need. But instead of siding with Alaska's families, John McCain is choosing to support a war without end in Iraq. [AP, 3/10/08; Speaker Pelosi Fact Sheet, 8/29/07] "John McCain is out of step with Alaskans' values," said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins. "McCain wants us there for 100 years even though everyone agrees the Iraqis have failed to make the political progress the surge was supposed to make possible. McCain wants a war that will break the bank and make our country less safe. That's not the kind of leadership Alaska's families want, and that's why Alaska voters will reject John McCain's promise of more of the same in November." The Cost to Our Forces in Iraq3,990: American troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the war. [icasualties.org, 3/17/0829,395: Number of U.S. service members that have been wounded in hostile action since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq. [AP, 3/11/08] 60,000: Number of troops that have been subjected to controversial stop-loss measures--meaning those who have completed service commitments but are forbidden to leave the military until their units return from war. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08] 2,100: Number of troops who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves increased from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 last year. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]
11.9: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their first Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08
27.2: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their third or fourth Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08 The Cost of Funding the War in Iraq$36,900: Estimated cost of the Iraq War per Alaska Household. Even assuming significant force reductions, the cost of the Iraq War will total $7 billion for Alaska taxpayers by 2017. $50-60 Billion: Bush Administration's pre-war estimates of the cost of the war. [New York Times, 12/31/02]
$12 Billion: Direct cost per month of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08
$526 Billion: Amount of money already appropriated by Congress for the War in Iraq. [CRS, 2/22/08
$3 Trillion: Total estimated cost of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08
$5 Trillion - $7 Trillion: Total cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans. [McClatchy, 2/27/08
160: Percent that the cost of the Iraq War has increased from 2004 to 2008. [CRS Report, 2/22/08 The Cost to Our Military Readiness88: Percent of current and former U.S. military officers surveyed in a recent independent study who believe that the demands of the war in Iraq have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin" [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08
94: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07
79: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2007 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07 The Cost to Our National Security1,188: Number of global terrorist incidents from January - September 11th, 2001. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007] 5,188: Number of global terrorist incidents in from January- September 11th, 2006. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]
30: Percent increase in violence in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. [Reuters, 10/15/07
21: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2001. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07
139: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2006, with an additional increase of 69 percent as of November 2007. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07
30: Percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Afghan Government according to DNI Mike McConnell. [Associated Press, 2/27/08 2,380: Days since September 11th, 2001 that Osama Bin Laden has been at-large. The Cost to Iraqis and Journalists8,000: Number of Iraqi military and police killed since June 2003. [Brookings Institute, Iraq Index, March 13, 2008]
82,000-89,000: Estimate of Iraqi civilians casualties from violence since the beginning of the Iraq War. [Iraq Body Count
4.5 Million: Number of Iraqi refugees both inside and outside the country. [Washington Post, 3/17/08
61: Percent of Iraqis that believe the U.S. military presence makes the security situation in Iraq worse. [Agence France-Presse, 3/17/08
127: Number of journalists killed in Iraq since March 2003. [Committee to Protect Journalists
Economic Costs of War in Iraq$33.51: Cost of a barrel of oil in March 2003. [Energy Information Administration
$105.68: Cost of a barrel of oil on March 17, 2008. [NYMEX Progress Towards Political Reconciliation Made By Iraqis3: Number out of 18 Bush Administration Benchmarks Met by Iraqi Government As of January 24, 2008. [Center for American Progress, 1/24/08
18: Number of provinces President Bush said would be secured by Iraqis as of November 2007. [President Bush Speech, 1/10/07
8: Number of provinces actually secured by Iraqis as of January 2008. [NPR, 1/7/08 Bush-Republican Intransigence on Staying the Course in Iraq8: Number of times a majority of the Senate has voted to change course in Iraq.7: Number of times Bush Republicans in Congress have blocked changing course in Iraq. 1: Number of vetoes issued by the White House over changing course in Iraq. © AlaskaReport.com All Rights Reserved.
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