Opinions on the Iraq war, though becoming unified, are still divided in many ways. Everyone has a different connection to the people who are fighting.

Because of this, rather than taking a specific position on the war in an editorial, we have chosen instead to present several numbers. This way, you can become more informed and decide for yourself what opinion to form based on this data.

TIME

1,656 – days since President Bush declared “mission accomplished” on May 1, 2003.

27 – average age of active duty soldiers

15 months – average length of tours in Iraq by U.S. soldiers

DEATH

At least 853 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq in 2007, making it the deadliest year of the war for the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

At least 1,023 Iraqi civilians died in September; in October, that figure was 875. The number of U.S. troops deaths dropped from 65 to 36 in the same period, according to statistics kept by the AP.

On average, 56 Iraqis – civilians and security forces – have died each day so far in 2007.

The Department of Defense has identified 3,860 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war.

CHANGING LIVES

2.3 million – Iraqis displaced from their homes.- Iraqi Red Crescent report and AP

More than 83 percent of those displaced are children under the age of 12 and women, the report said. AP

$390,000 – Estimated cost of deploying a U.S. solider to Iraq for one year, according to Congressional Research Service, via The Nation

The following comes from an AP article:

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars. AP

The department found 44 percent of the reservists polled said they were dissatisfied with how the Labor Department handled their complaint of employment discrimination based on their military status. This figure is up from 27 percent in 2004.

29 percent of veterans said they had difficulty getting the information they needed from government agencies, claiming they were protecting their rights, while 77 percent reported they didn’t even bother trying to get assistance in part because they didn’t think it would make a difference.

VOTING

58 percent (roughly) – percentage of citizens ages 18 to 24 registered to vote in the 2004 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only 47 percent of citizens ages 18 to 24 actually voted.

65 percent (roughly) – percentage of voting age citizens of Illinois who voted in the 2004 elections.

Of the 32 million people not registered to vote in 2004, 15 million (47 percent) said they weren’t registered because they were not interested or involved in the election or politics.