Now that the U.S. has turned over government control in Baghdad to the Iraqis – in name but not reality – this is as good a time as any to reflect on how much this war is costing us. And that’s exactly what an Institute for Policy Studies task force, headed by Phyllis Bennis, has done. The 54-page report, which is available on the Internet at www.ips-dc.org/iraq/costofwar/, provides an exhaustive and insightful look at the cost of the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation. Below are just a few of the IPS findings:

HUMAN COSTS – Between the start of the war on March 19, 2003 and June 16, 2004, according to research compiled by IPS, 952 coalition forces were killed, including 836 members of the U.S. military. Between 50 and 90 civilian contractors, missionaries and civilian workers – 36 of them Americans – died. Thirty journalists were killed in Iraq, eight of them employed by U.S. media companies. U.S. forces were responsible for at least nine of the deaths, including employees from the BBC, Reuters, ITN, ABC network, U.S. network, Arab TV stations al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera and the Spanish network, Telecinco. Over this period, more than 5,134 troops suffered wounds, including 4,593 since President Bush declared the end of combat operations on May 1, 2003.

Iraq and its people are paying an even higher cost, the report says.

“The image we were presented with was one of happy Iraquis welcoming U.S. troops with rice and flowers and immediately going back to work to rebuild their new, democratic free-market country,” recalls the report, titled, “Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War.” It continues, “Reality was very different. While the removal of the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein was no doubt a welcome development for many Iraqis, the costs of the war have been extremely high and are likely to continue.”

Iraq Body Count, a group of academics and researchers, placed the number of civilian deaths as a direct result of the U.S. invasion somewhere between 9,436 and 11,317. In the past, the number of wounded in war has typically been three times the death rate, meaning that approximately 35,000 Iraqis may have been wounded.

ECONOMIC COSTS - The report notes that Lawrence Lindsey, a White House economic adviser, was fired in 2002 for predicting that the Iraq war would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion. In retrospect, he was correct. So far, Congress has approved $151.1 billion and is expected to approve even more as U.S. troops remain in Iraq after the official change in government. One economist projects that the cost of the war will average at least $3,415 for every U.S. household.

SOCIAL COSTS - “The Bush administration combination of massive spending on the war and tax cuts for the wealthy means less money for social spending,” the report observes. “The administration’s FY 2005 budget request proposes deep cuts in critical domestic programs. It also virtually freezes funding for domestic discretionary programs other than homeland security.”

If Bush is re-elected, the report states, he plans further cuts in domestic spending.

“Indeed, a leaked memo from the White House to domestic agencies outlines major cuts following the election, including funding for education, Head Start, home ownership, job training, medical research and homeland security – all programs the president has been touting during the campaign,” it says.

“The $126 billion already appropriated and the $25 billion pending for the war in Iraq could have purchased any of the following desperately needed services in our country: close to 23 million housing vouchers; health care for over 27 million uninsured Americans; nearly 3 million new elementary school teachers; 678,200 new fire engines; over 20 million Head Start slots for children; health care coverage for 82 million children.”

SECURITY COSTS - “Polls reveal that the war has damaged the U.S. government’s standing and credibility in the world. Surveys in eight European and Arab countries demonstrated broad public agreement that the war has hurt, rather than helped, the war on terrorism. At home, 54 percent of Americans polled by the Annenberg Election Survey felt that ‘the situation in Iraq was not worth going to war over.’”

The report continues, “A number of former military officials have criticized the war, including retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, who has charged that by manufacturing a false rationale for war, abandoning traditional allies, propping up and trusting Iraqi exiles, and failing to plan for post-war Iraq, the Bush Administration made the United States less secure.”