Another way of laying out the data Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

At NSN we've been working on a number of different pieces that are coming out this week to review where we stand after five years in Iraq.  I know that Mike O'Hanlon has his own fancy graphics on Iraq, but I thought this was another way of looking at the data that lays it out pretty starkly.  It's really hard to look at these numbers and not conclude that this war has been both a strategic and humanitarian disaster. 

Comments

[Don Bacon]

Ilan, this is (at least) the second piece in a row where you have failed to consider the cost of the war to Iraqis. This is not a good trend.
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from the ICRC:
Despite limited improvements in security in some areas, armed violence is still having a disastrous impact. Civilians continue to be killed in the hostilities. The injured often do not receive adequate medical care. Millions of people have been forced to rely on insufficient supplies of poor-quality water as water and sewage systems suffer from a lack of maintenance and a shortage of engineers. Many families include people who have been forced by the conflict to flee their homes, leaving those left behind with the daily struggle of trying to make ends meet. A sustained economic crisis marked by high unemployment further aggravates their plight.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/iraq-report-170308

[Ilan Goldenberg]

Don,

I don't think that's fair. 150,000 dead and 4 million displaced is a an unimaginably high cost to the Iraqis and it's right at the top. The numbers speak for themselves.