I was thinking today about the cost of the Iraq War. The mainstream media will run stories from time to time about the billions upon billions being approved for funding the war, but those numbers are so huge that it helps to bring them back to earth.
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According to
Yahoo News, the cost of the Iraq war to date is approximately 320 billion dollars. The
CIA Factbook estimates the current U.S. population at 298.4 million.
A little quick math reveals that the war in Iraq has, to date, cost approximately $1072 for every man, woman, and child living in this country. Rounded off, that's $1100 per American. The question I ask is this: Has your $1100 been well spent? What about your 3 year old daughter's $1100? Or your 83 year old grandfather's $1100? Has this investment truly made us any safer and improved our lives, and the lives of our neighbors? Could your $1100 have been better spent on, say, a health care system that works, paying down our already massive national debt, or any of the other of the myriad challenges facing our nation right here at home? I think this is a question we, and our candidates for office, ought to be asking everyone who claims to support the Iraq war.
-Nate