Lancet survey: 601,027 violent deaths out of 654,965 excess deaths. June 2006
Opinion Research Business survey: 1,033,000 violent deaths as a result of the conflict. August 2007
Associated Press: 110,600 violent deaths April 2009
Iraq Body Count: 94,902 – 103,549 documented violent civilian deaths as a result of the conflict. December 2009
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Refugees
As of November 4, 2006, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighboring countries, and 1.6 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month.[52]
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Wounded in action
As of January 12, 2007, 500 U.S. troops have undergone amputations due to the Iraq War. Toes and fingers aren't counted.[48]
As of September 30, 2006, 725 American troops have had limbs amputated from wounds received in Iraq and Afghanistan.[49]
A 2006 study by Walter Reed Medical Center, which serves more critically injured soldiers than most VA hospitals, concluded that 62 percent of patients there had suffered a brain injury.[50]
In March 2003, U.S. military personnel were wounded in action at a rate averaging about 350 per month. As of September 2007, this rate has increased to about 675 per month
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Destruction of Iraqi Infrastructure
November 11, 2006 Los Angeles Times article[66] reports:
The [Iraq] nation's health has deteriorated to a level not seen since the 1950s, said Joseph Chamie, former director of the U.N. Population Division and an Iraq specialist. "They were at the forefront", he said, referring to healthcare just before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "Now they're looking more and more like a country in sub-Saharan Africa."
A November 9, 2006 International Herald Tribune article reported what Iraq's Health Minister, Ali al-Shemari, said about the issue:
Al-Shemari said Iraq needed at least 10 years to rebuild its infrastructure, and that the medical situation in the country was "gloomy." There was a shortage of medical supplies, which sometimes took months to reach the country from abroad, while roadblocks prevented people from getting to hospitals, he said. No hospital has been built in Iraq since 1983, and the country's 15,000 available hospital beds were well short of the 80,000 beds needed. The minister also noted that many doctors had left the country. "We need help from anybody," Al-Shemari said.[21]
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Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
A Mar. 2009 article in USA Today[159] reported that according to a Pentagon estimate, as many as 360,000 U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts may have suffered TBIs, including 45,000 to 90,000 veterans with persistent symptoms requiring specialized care. (A separate estimate for the Iraq conflict alone was not specified.)
A Feb. 2007 article[160] by Discover magazine, titled "Dead Men Walking. What sort of future do brain-injured Iraq veterans face?", reports: "One expert from the VA estimates the number of undiagnosed TBIs at over 7,500. Nearly 2,000 brain-injured soldiers have already received some level of care, ..."
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Most Iraqi children suffering from severe psychological symptoms
Seventy percent of children are suffering from trauma-related symptoms according to a study of 10,000 primary school students in the Shaab section of north Baghdad, conducted by the Iraqi Society of Psychiatrists and the World Health Organization. "We're now finding an elevation of mental health disorders in children -- emotional, conduct, peer, attention deficit," according to Iraqi psychiatrist Hashimi. "A number are even resulting in suicide."
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Mental illness and suicide
A top Army psychiatrist, Colonel Charles Hoge, told Congress in March 2008 that nearly 30% of troops on their third deployment suffer from serious mental health problems, and that one year was not enough time between combat tours.
In the same article Time also reported on some of the reasons for the prescription drug use:
That imbalance between seeing the price of war up close and yet not feeling able to do much about it, the survey suggests, contributes to feelings of "intense fear, helplessness or horror" that plant the seeds of mental distress. "A friend was liquefied in the driver's position on a tank, and I saw everything," was a typical comment. Another: "A huge f______ bomb blew my friend's head off like 50 meters from me." Such indelible scenes — and wondering when and where the next one will happen — are driving thousands of soldiers to take antidepressants, military psychiatrists say. It's not hard to imagine why
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Answer by Yoda Cookie Monster
it never was.
this is why i'm a pacifist.
Answer by blue317
Some Americans don't understand this concept...but....Freedom is not an Entitlement. It has a price tag.
Answer by The party of no new taxes
Not living under a dictator and giving Democracy to one of the most desolate areas on earth.....priceless.
Answer by Dr. Fell
0bama seems to think so - he has kept it going.
Answer by future
These people cannot be left to their own devices. A permanent military presence in the Mid East is an unfortunate reality and necessity.
More Americans die on US freeways each MONTH than have died in both wars - let's keep it in perspective please.
Orignal From: Is the Iraq war still worth it?
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