Borrowing a page from the Harper’s Index, the Democratic Policy Committee issued this fascinating list of facts and data this morning.
Iraq
Approximate number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq: 139,000
Percent of coalition forces contributed by the U.S. 85.7
Weeks since the Pentagon developed a plan to draw down U.S. forces in Iraq to roughly 40,000 by mid-2005: 98
Approximate amount appropriated by Congress for Iraq operations so far: $218 billion
Approximate amount spent by the U.S. in World War I: $205 billion
Approximate amount spent in Iraq by the U.S. last week: $1.03 billion
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) found: 0
Number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq: 1,886
Number killed since the President announced the end of major combat: 1,747
Number reported wounded by the Defense Department: 14,265
Approximate number of medical evacuations of U.S. military personnel performed since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom: 55,000
Number of National Guard soldiers killed in Iraq through August 27, 2005: 269
Number of National Guard soldiers killed in the entire Vietnam War: 97
Number of Iraqi military and police killed since training began (June 2003): 3,051
Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (November 2003): 5,000
Estimated number of insurgents in Iraq (June 2005): 15,000 – 20,000
Estimated number of 107 Iraqi military and special police battalions that are capable of operating independently: 3
Total amount of taxpayers’ money spent by Halliburton that the Defense Contract Audit Agency has deemed either excessive or insufficiently documented: $1.47 billion
Amount charged to American taxpayers by Halliburton to build a movie library for its employees: $152 million
Number of movies in the library: 10,000
Total number of nations contributing troops to Iraq as part of President Bush’s “coalition of the willing” at some point during the war: 37
Number of these nations that either have withdrawn or plan to withdraw their troops from the coalition: 14
Average size of troop contributions by nations with troops currently deployed to Iraq, excluding the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Italy: 186
Amount of the $13.6 billion pledged by the international community for Iraq’s reconstruction that had been dispersed as of May 2005: $603 million
Foreigners kidnapped in Iraq last month: 22
Foreigners kidnapped during the five previous months combined: 19
War on Terrorism
Days since September 11, 2001 that Osama bin Laden has remained uncaptured: 1,454
Days after bombing Pearl Harbor that Japan surrendered to U.S. forces: 1,365
Number of times President Bush mentioned the “war on terror” in one month before the 2004 elections: 71
Number of times in the six months following the 2004 elections: 66
Chances of a WMD attack in the next ten years, according to leading arms experts: 70 percent
Number of discovered cases of potential illicit smuggling of nuclear or radiological material out of the former Soviet Union last year: 200
Percent of former Soviet nuclear material stockpiles secured under Nunn-Lugar counterproliferation programs: 26
Number of terrorist suspects the Bush Administration claims have been convicted since September 11, 2001: 200
Number that have actually been convicted: 39
Total hours of wiretap recordings related to counterterrorism that the FBI has failed to review: 8,000
Average time the FBI requires to hire contract linguists to review the tapes: 16 months
U.S. Military Personnel
Readiness/Strain
Total National Guard and Reserve personnel currently deployed: 145,953
Percentage of the Army’s Third Infantry Division currently serving a second tour in Iraq: 50
Number of Marine battalions that are currently serving or preparing to serve their third combat tour in Iraq: 5
Of the 333 Army National Guard infantry, military police, armor, and Special Forces units, the number currently combat-ready without reinforcements: 6
Percent of Army Reserve currently ineligible for deployment because of recent deployments, lack of training, medical reasons, etc.: 84
Value of total Reserve Component equipment shortage, beginning Fiscal Year 2005: $15.21 billion
Army National Guard equipment shortage, as a percentage of the total: 76.7
Shortage of Captains, who serve as unit-level leaders, in the Army Reserve: 52 percent
Recruiting and Retention
Recruits needed per month for the rest of the fiscal year, if the Army is to meet its annual goal: 12,396.5
Highest monthly total of Army recruits this year: 8,086
Number of months the Marine Corps missed its recruiting goals between January and April 2005: 4
Number of months the Marine Corps missed its recruiting goals in ten years before January 2005: 0
Prior to 2004, years since the Army National Guard last missed its annual recruiting goal: 11
Consecutive months the Army National Guard has missed its monthly recruiting goals: 9
Number of the six Reserve Components that met their recruiting goals last month: 2
Rate of loss of Army captains and lieutenants, the Army’s junior officers, in 2004: 8.5
Average rate of loss of Army captains and lieutenants, 1996-2004: 7.3
Resignation requests submitted by Army Reserve Officers in 2001: 15
Resignation requests submitted by Army Reserve Officers, September 2003-September 2004: 370
Percent of Army enlisted special operations personnel leaving the force in 2004: 13
Percent of Army enlisted special operations personnel leaving in 2003: 6
Morale
Percent of troops in Iraq reporting that their unit’s morale is “low” or “very low”: 54
Increase in the divorce rate among Army officers since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom: 317 percent
North Korea
Estimated minimum number of nuclear weapons likely produced by North Korea during the Bush Administration: 4-6
Estimated number produced by North Korea from 1953 to 2000: 1-2
Potential number of nuclear weapons North Korea could possess by next year if Six-Party Talks continue to produce no disarmament agreement: 11
Darfur
Estimated number of conflict-related deaths per day in Darfur, Sudan: 500
Estimated number since President Bush took office: 400,000
Days since Secretary of State Powell first called the situation “genocide”: 362
Number of days after the Senate passed the Darfur Accountability Act as an amendment to H.R. 1268 that the Administration wrote a letter pressuring House Republicans (successfully) to remove it from the final bill: 1
Number of Darfuris expected to require food assistance during the August-October “hunger season”: 3.5 million
Conflict-affected persons in Darfur and Eastern Chad: 3.2 million
Total population of the Darfur region: 6 million
Homeland Security
Factor by which passengers on mass transit systems exceed passengers on airlines: 16
Funding per passenger the Bush Administration has spent to secure mass transit systems since September 11, 2001: $0.01
Cost of security upgrades needed to protect rail and transit systems as estimated by U.S. transit authorities: $6 billion
Amount of funding designated specifically for rail and transit security in President Bush’s budget: $0
Total amount of funding added to the Fiscal Year 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill for rail security in the wake of the July 7 London Bombings: $0
Number of provisions in federal law requiring chemical facilities to establish safeguards against a terrorist attack: 0
Number of chemical facilities at which a terrorist strike could threaten the lives of over 1 million people: 123
Percent of cargo arriving at U.S. ports inspected for WMD: <1
Percent of “high-risk” cargo inspected: 17.5
Estimated economic impact of a terrorist attack to a U.S. port: $1 trillion
Percent of Transportation Security Administration Fiscal Year 2005 budget allocated for port security grants: 2.8
Deadline for meeting port security standards set by the Maritime Transportation Security Act: 2004
Year in which MTSA port security standards will be met if port security funding levels remain constant: 2050
Ratio of federal air security screeners to federal surface transportation (rail and public transit) security screeners: 450:1
Homeland security grant dollars per capita awarded to the U.S. Virgin Islands in Fiscal Year 2004: $104.35
Homeland security grant dollars per capita awarded to California in Fiscal Year 2004: $4.97
Veterans
Approximate number of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans discharged from service, through June 2005: 393,00
Approximate number of these veterans seeking health care from VA hospitals, through June 2005: 103,000
Approximate number of these veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other mental ailments: 24,000
According to the Army Surgeon General, percent of troops returning from the Iraq war that have developed stress-related mental health problems: 30
Total funding requested specifically to meet the needs of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans in the President’s 2006 budget: $0
Total Compensation and Pension Claims Backlog: 507,952
Percent change in pending claims from the end of Fiscal Year 2003 to March 2005: +33
Gap between veterans’ needs and President Bush’s 2006 budget proposal: $3.5 billion
Percent increase needed each year just to maintain existing programs in the face of medical inflation and other rising costs: 13-14
Percent increase in veterans health care funding requested in President Bush’s 2006 Budget Proposal: 0.4
Fiscal Year 2005 budget shortfall announced by the VA: $1.27 billion
Number of weeks prior to the VA’s budget shortfall announcement that VA Secretary Nicholson told Congress, “I can assure you that VA does not need emergency supplemental funds in FY 2005”: 11
Total funding shortfall for Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006 now identified by the Bush Administration: $3 billion
Percentage rise in the number of veterans collecting unemployment insurance since August 2002: 96
Approximate number of veterans who experience homelessness during a given year: 500,000
Democracy and Development
Number of Botswanan AIDS patients the Bush Administration claims are receiving treatment because of U.S. assistance: 32,839
Number of Botswanan AIDS patients the Botswanan government says are receiving treatment because of U.S. assistance: 0
Total amount appropriated to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) so far: $2.48 billion
Total aid distributed by the MCA so far: $0
Average amount per year to be distributed through the five compact agreements signed so far: $37.7 million
Annual amount President Bush promised for the MCA: $5 billion
Average amount requested in President Bush’s annual budgets since he proposed the MCA: $2.3 billion
Number of the world’s ten poorest nations with whom the United States has signed an MCA compact: 0
Number of the world’s 40 poorest nations with whom the United States has signed an MCA compact: 1
Rank of U.S. among 21 developed nations in foreign assistance spending measured as a percentage of Gross National Product: 20
Number of children dying each day from preventable diseases: 27,000
Percentage of the world’s population living on less than $2 per day: 50
Cut in funding for foreign development assistance proposed in President Bush’s budget: $345 million
Statistics of the Week
Energy and National Security
Current barrels per day of oil consumed in the United States: 20.7 million
Percent of the U.S. transportation sector fueled by oil: 97
Projected percent increase in U.S. oil demand between 2002 and 2025: 38.6
Projected percent increase in oil demand by India and China during that period: 169.0