How much has it monetarily cost the United States so far for each U.S. servicemember killed or so gravely wounded that they are unable to return to duty in Iraq?
It's a morbid question perhaps, but in the spirit of being both supportive of our troops located in the cross-hairs of our government's stupid, irresponsible response to 9/11 and the sectarian civil war we so successfully helped to create, and in in the spirit of our troops' immediate withdrawal from that unwinnable hellhole best left described by the men and women themselves who serve and have served there, it's a fair question. It's also a question for every American to ponder, since it is our ugly reflection peering back at us in the mirror. Perhaps I'm wrong to post the question (and answer) here at dailykos; perhaps it would have more important impact at a right-leaning blog site, you know, since Republicans are so obssessed with goverment spending and tax cuts and such. I'm open to suggestions if any reader has a rightwing blogsite in mind for this diary. And let me suggest this too: we all have friends, family or someone we know who are Republicans; personally share this diary with them. That is my suggestion. Share it civilly or rub their noses in it the next time they complain about all the social service dollars our government spends.
OK, back to the original question: How much has it monetarily cost the United States so far for each U.S. servicemember killed or so gravely wounded that they are unable to return to duty in Iraq?
The question turns out to be an easy math problem to solve. By dividing the actual to-date costs of the Iraq war by the official government figures of the dead and gravely disabled Americans from the Iraqi war to date, we get our answer. To date, we have spent approximately $368 billion dollars on the war, and to date, 13,591 Americans have either died or have been so severely wounded that they can no longer serve. So, for every American serviceman/woman who has given their life (or limb), we have spent $27,076,741.96.