by James Glaser
February 12, 2007

In just this next year, George Bush, you, and I are going to spend more on defense, than all the money spent on the whole ten plus years America fought the Vietnam War. You see this war in Iraq and the whole War on Terrorism is an extra cost to what we spend every year on defense. When you take what Iraq and Afghanistan are costing us, and you add that to the yearly Defense Budget, you will see that is a whole lot of money.

According to the US government's Congressional Research Service, the Vietnam War cost the US the equivalent of $662 billion, in today's dollars, between 1965 and 1975. The Los Angeles Times has compared this figure with the costs for the War on Terror, which began in 2001, and come up with the conclusion that this year the costs will be surpassed.

Right now the Bush administration is asking Congress for another $100 billion to finish out this year in Iraq. Add to that the $70 billion Congress has already approved for this year, and then there is the $145 billion George wants for next year.

Then think of our annual Defense Budget. George Bush wants that to expand by 10 percent over last year, up to $481 billion. You see, the Defense Budget does not include what we are spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of those wars are run on a cost plus basis. So, all this new money requested adds up to another $726 billion. We can't count that $70 billion approved, because that is spent already.

All of this money just gets us through 2008. That is if George doesn't expand the war into Iran, or if unforeseen costs pop up next year, then George will be back at the trough looking for more to spend.

When a Soldier or Marine is killed on the battle field, there is a fixed cost involved in his burial and the insurance money his loved ones get. I know that is cold, but it is true. It is far cheaper for the government to have a trooper killed that to have him disabled for life, and we are have thousands of Soldiers and Marines who are disabled. Every day more and more veterans seek help from the VA for psychological problems from their combat experiences. We don't know the actual number, but it is safe to say that it is in the tens of thousands now and increasing.

Then there are the troops who have suffered limb amputations, blindness, burns, brain damage, and every other kind of injury you can think of. All of these veterans will require very expensive medical care and disability payments for many another 45 or more years. War is not cheap!

So, even if we started now taking our troops home, this war that George Bush started in Iraq has cost us more in today's dollars that the war in Vietnam or the First World War, or the Korean war for that matter. If George can keep this war going till after he leaves office, the War in Iraq could surpass what WW II cost us, and remember Iraq is a small pitiful third world country.

But hey, it is only money, and it is making some people in this country very rich. Of course if you look at the costs so far, it gives you some idea of how much we have destroyed Iraq. If you think a lot of our soldiers and Marines need psychological help, just think of how many Iraqis do. Iraqis don't have tours of duty; they are stuck in the war zone full time.

We think the number of Americans wounded (23,417) is just horrible, and it is, but think of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis wounded. And then think of the medical care the Iraqis have for their people. Tell me now, won't many Iraqi doctors need psychological help too? I won't even talk about the number of Iraqis killed because we have kept that pretty much a secret, but remember this, building more morgues in Baghdad is a top priority. Something else to think about is the reported ¾ of a million Iraqis who have fled their country so far, and we have no idea of how many have been displaced internally.

If you just put George Bush's war into a dollars and cents equation, you will see that we have already lost this war. Remember the Bush administration was talking about the war costing us $50 billion. They were almost as far off on that as they were on the weapons of mass destruction.

This war goes on, the costs continue to rise, and some Americans get rich beyond their wildest dreams, and all it took was the killing and maiming of a million people or more.

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