Cost of the Iraq War

A look at the Cost of war

The Cost of war can be measured in many ways. However you look at it, we can never asses the full damage to our humanity, or the complete toll this war will have in the countless ways it effects us all. The number of civilian lives lost has been purposefully and largely uncounted, at least by our own government in any meaningful way. But many organizations have done there best to show us the cost of this war both in civilian and military lives lost and the financial toll it has had on our own Country.

The financial cost for the Iraq War was $509,745,061,240 on the morning of April 9th, 2008, how this loss of money will effect our nation has yet to unfold completely.

Consider the costs...
$4,681 per household.
$1,721 per person.
$341.4 million per day.

You can see the cost of war for any city or town in the nation at the National Priorities Organization website as well as other ways the money could have been spent.

Go to http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

How much has Santa Cruz Paid for this war?
Here in Santa Cruz, I was astounded by the finical devastation this war has cost the City of Santa Cruz alone.

According to the Nation Priorities Project, the war is currently costing the City of Santa Cruz, about a dollar every second. As of 11:21 am. April 9th , 2008 the total cost to taxpayers in the City of Santa Cruz is $113.7 million thus far. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
46,786 People with Health Care OR
202,534 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR
2,031 Public Safety Officers OR
1,606 Music and Arts Teachers OR
17,083 Scholarships for University Students OR
11 New Elementary Schools OR
340 Affordable Housing Units OR
42,491 Children with Health Care OR
13,597 Head Start Places for Children OR
1,633 Elementary School Teachers OR
1,436 Port Container Inspectors

Taxpayers in Santa Cruz, California will pay $30.3 million for projected Iraq War Spending for FY 2009. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
12,482 People with Health Care OR
54,035 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR
542 Public Safety Officers OR
428 Music and Arts Teachers OR
4,558 Scholarships for University Students OR
3 New Elementary Schools OR
91 Affordable Housing Units OR
11,336 Children with Health Care OR
3,628 Head Start Places for Children OR
436 Elementary School Teachers OR
383 Port Container Inspectors

How the money is calculated
See -
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost_of_war_counter_notes

Cost in Lives
At the time of writing, the costs in documented civilian lives lost has been put at 90,251 by Iraq Body Count.

This is the most conservative and well documented number. The real cost in lives is impossible to tally as people flee to neighboring countries and mass graves are quickly filled. Some numbers are stated at over a million.
(http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/)


The current cost in American lives lost is
4028

The true cost of this war will be felt for a very long time and the depth of that cost impossible to foretell, except that it will be massive. It not only damages us financially -- it damages our collective humanity.