By Michael Nietfeld

CURRENT EVENTS OF IRAQ WAR

• About 4,287 US soldiers have been named dead since April 1st 2005.

• About 30,182 US soldiers have been wounded since April 1st 2005

• An estimated 655,000 Iraqis have died since 2003.

CASUALTIES IN IRAQ

• Iran became one of Iraq’s largest trading partners

• Iranian leaders established ties with Iraqi politicians which increases Iran’s political power

• Weapons have been traded between Iran and Iraq

STRENGTHENING OF IRAN

• Iran’s involvement has hindered the U.S. due to Iraqis obtaining and using weapons from Iran• The economic cost of fighting Iraq hurt the U.S. economy

Weakening of the U.S.

• Costs could be over 2 trillion dollars if factors such as medical care for injured Americans is accounted for

• Direct cost to the treasury has been over 750 billion dollars

ECONOMIC COSTS

NO PROVISIONAL IRAQI GOVERNMENT

• Without someone to lead the country, Iraqis began looting and discontent

• The discontent led to the insurrection and fighting between Iraq and the U.S.

• Al-Maliki began forming a new government but no final decisions have been made

• Original order would dismiss more than 500,000 Iraqis from their jobs

• 30,000 Iraqis were dismissed from ministries

• 100,000 members of intelligence services were dismissed

• Some senior members of government were allowed to return

• Due to the loss of jobs, the insurrection was encouraged

DE-BA’ATHIFICATION AND DISBANDING OF IRAQI MILITARY

TROOP LEVELS IN IRAQ

• The war began by 192,000 troops invading Iraq in March 2003

• By October 2005 157,000 troops

• In October 2007 170,000 troops

• March 2008 158,000 troops

2008 ELECTION

• Obama wished to remove one or two brigades each month from Iraq and have all troops home after 16 months

•McCain wished to pursue victory in Iraq before bringing troops home

• Prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were tortured

• When this scandal was released to the public it hurt the image of the Iraq War

• Seventeen soldiers and officers were removed from duty

ABU GHRAIB

Works Cited

"A Timeline of Iraq War, Troop Levels." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington

Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/07/a-timeline-of-iraq-war-

tr_n_95534.html>.

"Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse." Welcome back to The Frost blog. N.p., n.d.

Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/abu_ghraib2.html>.

"BBC NEWS | Business | The Iraq war: Counting the cost." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d.

Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7304300.stm>.

Bazzi, Mohamad. "Iraq Needs a Compromise, But Instead It Has al-Maliki ." Council On

Foreign Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <www.cfr.org/iraq/iraq-needs-

compromise-but-instead-has-al-maliki/p23613>.

Beehner, Lionel, and Greg Bruno. "Iran's Involvement in Iraq ." Council on Foreign

Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <www.cfr.org/iran/irans-involvement-

iraq/p12521>.

Brown, David. "Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000." The

Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The

Washington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html>.

COOPER, HELENE, SHAN CARTER, JONATHAN ELLIS, FARHANA HOSSAIN,

and ALAN MCLEAN. "On the Issues: Iraq and Afghanistan - Election Guide

2008 - The New York Times." Republican Presidential Candidates - Election

2012 - NYTimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

Works Cited