The Cost of War

NPP Pressroom

Georgia WAND
Krista Brewer
05/28/2010

Dear Friends, Our friends at the National Priorities Project have alerted us to a sad but important milestone that is approaching. On this coming Sunday, May 30, at 10:06am, the National Priorities Project Cost of War counter – designed to count the total money spent for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – will reach the $1 trillion mark. Since before the invasion of Afghanistan in October, 2001 we at Georgia WAND and many other peace-loving Americans have been saying that "war is not the answer." Over these long years of now two wars, our country, and the countries we have invaded have paid dearly with the number of soldiers and civilians killed or wounded. But as the Cost of War counter dramatically shows, we also have paid dearly with our tax dollars also. You can click here to see the Cost of War right now, and you can do the same on Sunday morning. You can also click on a link just below the counter to see the cost trade offs. One example: Here in Georgia we have spent a total of $30.2 billion for the two wars since 2001. This is enough money to pay for 516,429 teachers for one year. We often quote Gloria Steinem who said that we can tell the values of a nation by looking at its national check book. I once saw a bumper sticker that said: I hope the day will come when schools have a lot of money and the Pentagon has to hold bake sales. In peace, Krista Brewer, President Georgia WAND Board of Directors