The Cost of War

Now I know we all hear the cliches regarding the bountiful amount of useful information on the internet that is simply ignored...but this information puts it in an ENTIRELY new perspective.

I'm taking a Global issues course this semester and there were 3 sets of debates on current issues facing all life on the planet. The most heated one, naturally (this is the South), was military war to fight terrorism. I was on the side against using military/war as the main means of action to deal with terror. My ideaology behind my stance was simple:



1) Terrorism is an IDEA and no weapon can kill that. Sure, certain regions/countries are prone to harbor terrorist oraganizations, however, there are many right here in the US and being that nearly all 9/11 involvement is largely speculation, who's to say where the true organizers of the attacks are?

2) More importantly, financially, the US cannot continue to be at 'war' There are numerous charts and graphs depicting the lopsided contributions of the US compared to other countries also supposedly involved in the war on terror...but this site and counter really drives it home in a rather simple fashion



If that isn't shocking enough, let's take a look at the trade-offs...On the National Priorities Project official website you can break down the costs and trade-offs for the US, per state, per county, per city, and per PERSON and TAXPAYER. Each person and/or taxpayer in the US, aside from any other debts owed, is in $3,189 and $7,034 MINIMUM...and rising. But I digress...more stats.



Taxpayers in the United States will pay $915.1 billion for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

269,705,508 People with Health Care for One Year OR

947,364,311 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR

19,764,579 Public Safety Officers for One year OR

15,693,033 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR

141,481,138 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR

171,046,729 Students receiving Pell Grants of $5350 OR

7,118,476 Affordable Housing Units OR

403,332,085 Children with Health Care for One Year OR

125,579,800 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR

15,032,444 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR

13,221,600 Port Container Inspectors for One year

Wait...there's more

Taxpayers in the United States will pay $704.3 billion for Total Defense Spending in FY2010. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

207,588,064 People with Health Care for One Year OR

729,171,329 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR

15,212,484 Public Safety Officers for One year OR

12,078,680 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR

108,895,794 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR

131,651,962 Students receiving Pell Grants of $5350 OR

5,478,979 Affordable Housing Units OR

310,438,327 Children with Health Care for One Year OR

96,656,786 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR

11,570,234 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR

10,176,457 Port Container Inspectors for One year

And that's just 2 of the 6 categories...meaning there are billions more dollars going to "National defense"...sighs. The counter below reflects the same stats displayed above. My challenge to everyone who read this is to check the counter again on New Years' Day and see what the number is then