War’s worst effect is clearly the loss of life, but the monetary cost can have its consequences as well, even on a country as rich as the United States.
The wars in the Middle East have now cost the US Treasury over $1 trillion:
The cost of the United States' wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost taxpayers more than one trillion dollars, a Massachusetts nonprofit said Sunday, marking a grim milestone on the eve of the Memorial Day holiday.
The group, National Priorities Project, conveyed the size of US war spending by highlighting other things that could have been bought with the money. For example, for the price of America's two wars, the US could give $5,500 in Pell grants to all of America's 19 million college students for the next nine years. One trillion would also pay the entire healthcare bill for 294 million people, or 440 million children, the group says.
What Can You Get For $1 Trillion?
* Federal Funding For Higher Education -- $1 trillion would give the maximum Pell Grant award ($5,500) to all 19 million U.S. college and university students for the next 9 years.
* 294,734,961 people with health care for one year, or
* 21,598,789 public safety officers for one year, or
* 17,149,392 music and arts teachers for one year, or
* 7,779,092 affordable housing units, or
* 440,762,472 children with health care for one year, or
* 137,233,969 head start places for children for one year, or
* 16,427,497 elementary school teachers for one year, or
* 1,035,282,468 homes with renewable electricity for one year
The article didn’t have a count for the loss of life, but I do believe that between 4,000 and 5,000 members of the military have been lost between the two wars.
The amount money spent wasted is enraging and outrageous. The loss of life, however, is the saddest thing of all.
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