It’s Still Not a Joke

mission NOT accomplished

Update, 1 May 2007. Things are even worse one year later.

It wasn’t funny a month ago and it definitely wasn’t true 3 years ago today. Today, we are so far from “Mission Accomplished” that no one sees a clear way out of the mess in Iraq.

Let’s take a look at some of the numbers behind the story:

May 1, 2003 Today
U.S. Troops Wounded 542 17,469
U.S. Troops Killed
139 2,400
Size of U.S. Forces 150,000 132,000
Size of Iraqi Security Forces
7,000-9000 250,500
Number of Insurgents 5,000 15,000-20,000
Insurgent Attacks Per Day 8 75
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers $79 billion $320 billion
Approval of Bush’s Handling of Iraq 75% 37%
Percentage of Americans who Believe The Iraq War Was “Worth Fighting” 70% 41%
Bush’s Overall Job Approval 71% 38%

The table above was was created by the American Progress Action Fund and originally published here.