I read and article I thought was pretty interesting. I know the violence has been dropping for awhile and that isn't really news enough to start a post for in and of itself. The stuff listed in this article is pretty interesting though.



U.S. TROOP LEVELS:

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_October 2007: 170,000 at peak of troop buildup.

_July 2008: 143,000

CASUALTIES:

_Confirmed U.S. military deaths as of Aug. 1, 2008: At least 4,126.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of July 31, 2008: 30,464.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of July 5, 2008: 33,153.

_U.S. military deaths for July 2008: 13, including the discovery of the bodies of two American soldiers missing after an attack last year.

_Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of March 31, 2008: 1,181.

_Iraqi deaths in June from war-related violence:

An Associated Press tally shows that at least 510 Iraqi civilians and security force members were killed in July, a 75 percent drop from the 2,021 deaths in the same period last year.

_Assassinated Iraqi academics: 377.

_Journalists killed on assignment as of July 31, 2008: 130.

COST:

_Over $541 billion so far, according to the National Priorities Project.

OIL PRODUCTION:

_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.

_July 22, 2008: 2.53 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.

_July 24, 2008 nationwide: 4,520 megawatts. Hours per day: 11.6.

_Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.

_July 24, 2008 Baghdad: Megawatts not available. Hours per day: 11.2.

_Note: Current Baghdad megawatt figures are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.

TELEPHONES:

_Prewar land lines: 833,000.

_July 7, 2008: 1,600,000.

_Prewar cell phones: 80,000.

_July 7, 2008: 13.4 million.

WATER:

_Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.

_June 29, 2008: 20.9 million people have potable water.

SEWERAGE:

_Prewar: 6.2 million people served.

_June 29, 2008: 11.3 million people served.

(Note: The figures for water and sewerage have not changed in the newest SIGIR report.)

INTERNAL REFUGEES:

_Aug, 1, 2008: At least 2.8 million people are currently displaced inside Iraq.

EMIGRANTS:

_Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.

_April 2008: Over 2 million — mainly in Syria and Jordan.

___

All figures are the most recent available.

Sources: The Associated Press, State Department, Defense Department, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, Iraq Body Count, U.N. High Commission for Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Working Group, International Organization for Migration, Committee to Protect Journalists, National Priorities Project, The Brussels Tribunal, Department of Labor.


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It's interesting on how much basic needs have increased.
They have more power,water and sewage. The communications in the country have drasticly increased with all the cell phones and a ton of hard line laid. It has also been mentioned that garabage pick up and schools have picked up alot from prewar. Kind of like the country is starting to come out of the 3rd wolrd status and becoming more modern.
No one doubts there is along way to go for that country but there has sure been alot of progress in alot of areas.

Last note is our military fucking rocks.