Issues: Iraq
The Bush administration and a Republican-controlled Congress led us into Iraq. It is now our responsibility to end the occupation and bring all the troops home as quickly as possible. Full withdrawal is the only acceptable solution. No military presence should be left in Iraq beyond that necessary to protect a diplomatic cadre. Maintaining an embassy in Iraq is necessary to keep the humanitarian and human rights contacts alive. Permanent military bases are not necessary and will provide additional reasons for the Iraqi insurgency to continue its attacks.
Monetary Costs
Monetary costs to Delaware taxpayers amount to approximately $2.86 billion. For that amount of money the citizens of Delaware could have gotten any one of the following:
- Health care coverage for 828,671 people — or 1,298,951 kids
- Head Start for 475,674 additional kids
- 50,440 new elementary school teachers
- 143,000 one year full scholarships to the University of Delaware to make college more affordable
- Renewable electricity for 2,546,921 homes
- 18,600 affordable housing units
- 67,587 public safety officers to keep the streets safe
- 42,954 port container inspectors for Delaware
Given the current costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are about $12 billion per month. How much does that represent for the state of Delaware?
- Enough to pay 200,000 teachers an average salary for 1 year or enough to pay all the teachers in Delaware public schools an average salary for more than 150 years
- Enough to pay 250,000 RNs an average salary for one year
- Enough to send 600,000 students to UD for one year or 150,000 students for a free 4 year degree
- Equal to the median income of about 250,000 households
- Enough to pay 200,000 Delaware State Police officers for an entire year.
Human Costs
The human costs of the Iraqi invasion and occupation continue to rise along with the monetary costs. Recent reports tell of the exodus of as many as 3,000 Iraqis per day. Many of these folk are of ancient cultures. Christians, some of the oldest communities in the world, have lived in Iraq for more than 2,000 years coexisting with various other groups. A small Jewish community is all but gone as a result of ongoing persecution. Other groups including Mandaeans exist only in Iraq and Iran. Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds. Given the relative size of some of these minor groups, extinction is a real threat. Even Palestinian and Turkoman populations which are significantly larger are at relative risk as the war escalates. Being in the minority, adherents to these religious groups are easily targeted by kidnappers and death squads.
Iraq has a population of approximately 25 million. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates as many as 1.6 million citizens are displaced within the country and as many as 1.8 million displaced outside the country. Inside Iraq estimates suggest as many as 50,000 people are leaving their homes each year. The internal strife and dislocation of people is a basic human rights issue. Violence leads to conditions many families find unacceptable. People leave their homes in search of better conditions. Most refugees find themselves in camps rather than finding settled living. Violence and unrest often follow as these populations are so vulnerable.
Longterm Implications
So long as wartime conditions continue in Iraq and other countries around the world, the refugee issue will continue. The solution is not easy without peace being restored. Ancient cultures as well as more modern cultures will cease to exist if their members cannot find places to coexist with their neighbors in tolerance. When those old cultures are gone, we as a race will have lost a valuable part of our heritage. The human costs of war must be considered when we total the investment. Once the American presence is ended a variety of international diplomatic and humanitarian aid efforts may begin. We as a country are responsible for rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq in so far as we are able. This rebuilding will in large measure need to be accomplished through third parties until the resentment toward America has time to diminish in large measure.
The risk of a religious civil war in Iraq is ever present. Today with an American occupation the killings continue relatively unabated. There may or may not be a period of worsening violence once America withdraws, but a continued American presence guarantees resistance and continued violence.
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Cost of the War in Iraq
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