Tuesday, October 02, 2007

An Iraq Minute: Calculating the Cost of War

What happens in a minute? In the Iraq war – as in any war -- lives are ended and destroyed, homes are demolished and families are broken within the space of a minute. And, according to a new analysis by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the U.S. is spending half a million dollars each minute of the war. In a day, the toll comes to $720 million. The group based its figures, unveiled in “Cost of War” exhibits in major US cities on Sept. 20 and 21, on the work of former World Bank chief economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda Bilmes. ... On large banners placed in downtowns in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Sioux City, a Baltimore suburb and other locations, the AFSC showed the trade-off in social services and resources in terms of “war dollars.” The cost of one day of the Iraq war, they say, could: create over 95,000 Head Start slots for kids, buy 6,482 homes for families, provide healthcare for 423,529 children or 163,525 people, hire 12,478 elementary school teachers, outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, sponsor almost 35,000 four-year college scholarships or provide 1.15 million free school lunches. F*U*C*K*E*R*S

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