Numbers

FORWARD OPERATING BASE NORMANDY, Iraq, Jan. 10 -- The explosion of a booby-trapped house killed six American soldiers on Wednesday during an offensive against Sunni insurgents in Diyala province, making it the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq since November

A new survey estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of the country. Roughly 9 out of 10 of those deaths were a consequence of U.S. military operations, insurgent attacks and sectarian warfare.

BAGHDAD-(AP) -- U.S. bombers and jet fighters unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives during a 10-minute airstrike Thursday, flattening what the military called al-Qaida in Iraq safe havens on the southern outskirts of the capital.

Money for nothing

Speaking of energy the Washington Post reports on a GAO report on another fine mess that George Bush got us into in Iraq:
"Iraq's crucial oil and electricity sectors still need roughly $50 billion to meet demand, analysts and officials say, even after the United States has poured more than $6 billion into them over more than four years."
How long can this nonsense go on? How much money do we taxpayers have to spend to fix this disaster. But, most importantly how much more blood will be spent for oil.

Up in smoke?

"The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed."-Washington Post

I smell smoke from the dollars that are on fire in the U.S. taxpayers wallets! Welcome to Baghdad.

P.S.
"It's your money! You paid for it!"- George W. Bush