War Costs

I came across this info on the costs of the Iraq war on line at Reuters.com and I thought it worth noting here. I am one who has believed for a long time that we spend way too much money on "defense" and that a good part of that is not for our defense but the profit margins of some major corporations with political connections.  I also think this spending has been going on for as long as we have been a country.  Just look at the fortifications up and down the eastern seaboard of our country.  Just about none of them has ever fired a weapon in anger.  Anyway, the cost for the most recent war follow.

Brown University "Cost of War" Project reports the war cost for Iraq at $ 1.7 trillion (US dollars) plus another $ 490 billion in benefits yet to be paid out.  Overall cost could increase to $ 6 trillion over 4 decades.  On the human side they report that 134,000 Iraqis have been killed and that figure "be four times that".  In 2011 a Watson Institute (?) study said the cost of wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq was at least $ 3.7 trillion.  That figure included the cost for war vets medical and disability care.  Their update put the cost at $ 4 trillion.  (This info taken from the internet and Reuters.com on 3/16/13)