The Iraq War has cost us upwards of 3 TRILLION DOLLARS so far. See what YOU can spend it on

[unusualmusic_lj_archive]

Go spend YOUR 3 trillion dollars here

Comments

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

Oh man, don't get me started. Our group's final project in Geopolitical Perspectives was Iraq war cost-analysis. Joseph Stiglitz's new book The Three Trillion Dollar War is an invaluable resource on the subject. Although, the three trillion tag is not necessarily in "physical" money, i.e., money we've actually spent; in its tally Stiglitz includes the estimated cost to the economy as far as loss of generated income due to soldiers returning with mental and physical disabilities, as well as the medical bills accrued by veterans. And hardly anyone remembers that a lot of this money is borrowed, so the interest alone on the 500+ billion we've poured into Iraq will exceed another 500 billion. Then there's the cost of rebuilding the military and maintaining the fourteen permanent bases we've established in Iraq. (For example, Al Asad Air Base with its 17,000 troops, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and internal bus system or Camp Victory, aka Al Nasr Airfield, with its 14,000 troops and swimming pools.) And let's not forget the swell nearly billion dollar embassy we built, which so disgustingly happens to be the largest diplomatic mission in the world. As if we couldn't jack off to ourselves enough already.

And just for fun, remember when the military lost track of 9 billion-plus dollars in Iraq? It's so weird - like, they know we spent it, they're just not sure where they spent it. It's a totally easy mistake. LOL.

I'd also invite you to try to discover, in thirty minutes or less, exactly how much money we give Iraq for reconstruction and relief per quarter and where it goes. It's not very easy.

(Actually, I'll just give you a handy link to the IRRF (Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund) for the October 2007 quarter, because finding it took me for-fucking-ever:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/94896.pdf )

P.S. And here are some of my very favorite comments about the cost of the war, lovingly compiled in this cached article from The Nation: http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:wwFMJw0-jEMJ:www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/navasky_cerf+navasky_cerf&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Woof, sorry for the ranty-type comment. This whole thing really frosts my cornflakes. >F

[unusualmusic.livejournal.com]

Rant away! ESPECIALLY when it is combined with such kickass info!