Earlier today, the United States Military officially declared an end to the Iraq War which began in 2003 under President George W. Bush and has lasted for nearly 9 years. For most Americans, the end of the war comes as a relief and is a small reminder of why the country voted for Barack Obama instead of John McCain during the last presidential election.

Since 1115.org went live for the first time in October 2003, there have been nearly 700 blog posts written on the subject of the Iraq War. The focus of these posts range from the ever-shifting justifications of why we went to war in the first place, to the original lamestream media that failed to ask the Bush Administration tough questions, and everything in between. A suggestion: Withdrawal Method.

In this post, however, as we can now definitively say that the Iraq War is over, I would like to tally up a sampling of some final facts, figures, and statistics about our 9 year engagement in Iraq. Unless indicated otherwise, the numbers cited come from the Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index, which is up to date for November 30, 2011.

Death Toll

U.S. Troops Killed: 4,486

U.S. Troops Wounded: 32,226

British Troops Killed: 179

Other Coalition Troops Killed: 137

Private Contractors Killed:  528

Iraqi Civilians Killed: 104,080 – 113,728    

(source: Iraq Body Count)

Journalists Killed: 150

Cost of War

Total Cost of Iraq War: $801.9 billion    

(source: Congressional Research Service)

Money Lost to Contractor Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: $31 to $60 billion

or $12 million per day    (note: combined for Iraq and Afghanistan – source: Commission on Wartime Contracting)