1. Iraq war

2. What angered me the most was seeing all the bodies in the streets, the dead Iraqi children and civilians, and the dead soldiers. U.S. Troop Casualties – 4,374 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army

3.  According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion dollars by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money.  The CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq, or $6,300 per U.S. citizen.  A recent study indicated that the long term health care costs for wounded Iraq war veterans could range from $350 billion to $700 billion.

4.  There was no country of Iraq until it was created by the British in 1920  In 1534 the Ottoman Turks conquered the area of what is now Iraq  The United States already sponsored two previous regime changes in Iraq  Under their League of Nations mandate, the British installed King Faisal as the ruler of Iraq  In the 1960s Iraq was lead by Abd al-Karim Qasim  Qasim was killed in February 1963 in a CIA-sponsored coup by the anti-Communist Baath party.  Saddam Hussein was an ally of the United States until the first Persian Gulf War  Hussein was part of a group that tried to assassinate Abd al-Karim Qasim after he seized power in 1958  The U.S. problem with Iran stemmed from decades of American intervention that backfired  Iraq got its "weapons of mass destruction" from the United States  This started after the Baath party coup of 1963, when the U.S. sent arms to the new regime  Iraq was not responsible for the 9-11 attacks on the United States  none of the hijackers of the airplanes on September 11 were from Iraq (or Afghanistan). They were mainly from Saudi Arabia, our supposed Muslim ally in the Middle East  Iraq was not a threat to the United States  Although Bush’s initial justification for war was that Iraq was a "threat to the United Nations“, this was soon shifted to Iraq being a threat to the United States  Iraq is the Mideast’s second largest oil producer.  It is downplayed by all proponents of the war with Iraq. But if oil has nothing to do with the U.S. intervening in Iraq, then why hasn’t the U.S. intervened in Sudan, where 2 million Christians have been killed during the past decade?

5.  "Financial cost of the Iraq War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2010..  White, Deborah. "Iraq War Facts, Statistics at February 16, 2010 - Iraq War Casualties, Spending, Iraqi Quality of Life." Liberal & Progressive Politics & Perspectives. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2010..  "Iraq War Facts Statistics As Of January 6 2010 Casualties." News From Planet Earth — "The cure for morning optimism...". N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2010..