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Date published: 4/28/2006
RICHMOND--It's hard to believe that the war in Iraq has been going on for just over three years; to me it feels like an eternity. I say that because three of my sons have been involved in the war. I'm not alone. To some degree, the Iraq war has touched---and continues to touch---every Virginian. We keep hearing about the costs of the war in terms of "blood and treasury." The phrase seems so cold. It allows many of us to minimize the effects of the war, and even disassociate ourselves from it. Sometimes we need to stop and experience the full effect. Let's be crass and start with the money. The cost of the Iraq war thus far has been approximately $229 billion. Virginia's share equals roughly $6.7 billion. For all the money spent, we have nothing to be proud of: thousands of Americans and Iraqis dead or injured; continued daily violence in that country in the form of suicide bombings (of note, there had never been one in Iraq before the invasion), assassinations, kidnappings, and the enmity and distrust of much of the world community. Now let's look at what we could have gotten with the money instead of American soldiers in a hostile land. Remember, this is just Virginia's portion of the bill. To be fair, since the money is all borrowed from our children (and their children), let's imagine we had spent it on them. According to the National Priorities Project, we could have done much for ensuring a future for our children: we could have insured more than 4 million children for health care for one year, enrolled 883,000 children in Head Start, hired 115,500 additional teachers, offered 323,050 students full four-year scholarships at a public college, or built 60,000 housing units. Any of those alternatives sound better for our children than sending their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts off to a war zone.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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