Cost Of Wars In Iraq and Afghanistan

The following information is meant to inform the American public about the true cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have surpassed the 1 trillion dollar mark in combined cost. Over 5,000 American men and women have been killed and over 35,000 have been wounded or injured. In addition, tens of thousands of innocent cilivilations have been killed, wounded, or injured.

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan they sent in over 600,000 troops and they failed miserably. The current coalition forces in Afghanistan as of 2011 are just over 100,000 troops.

I just do not get it. Are the current coalition troops that much better than the previous Soviet Union troops, that they can achieve what the Soviets could not with far less troops?

Afghanistan is a wasteland of tribal warlords. There will never be a strong central government in Afghanistan; therefore, there will never be stability or peace in Afghanistan. Iraq is a paradise compared to Afghanistan in terms of the ability for a strong central government to ever be formed. In other words, Afghanistan is a guerrilla war not a conventional war. It should have been handled covertly through the CIA and special forces; not with 100,000 troops and billions of dollars of military hardware on the ground.

So what are we fighting for again? To stop future terror attacks I believe.

Some eye opening facts:

As an American citizen on American soil you are far more likely to be killed in a car accident, by drowning, in a fire, being murdered by a fellow American citizen, by falling down, or simply by walking across the street; than by a terrorist attack.

President Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural speech said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

People and politicians who play on your irrational fears usually have ulterior motives.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object."

The sad truth is that some politicians and large corporations want to have a constant state of fear and war. War means a lot of power and money for some, but at a great cost to others.

So now it is time to explore more deeply the true cost of war in general. Some of the following facts may disturb some Americans, but they must be disclosed in order to stop the endless cycle of war.

As of 2011, there are more than 48,000 companies who have contracts with the United States Department of Defense better known as the DoD. Of course not all 48,000 companies are directly related to war, but many of them do have a vested interest in keeping America in a constant state of war. To prove this point all you have to do is take a look at the stock charts of 5 major companies who have contracts with the DoD.

1. Haliburton Stock Chart

2. Lockheed Martin Stock Chart

3. Northrop Grumman Stock Chart

4. General Dynamics Stock Chart

5. Boeing Stock Chart

As you can see, since September 11, 2001 all 5 of these companies have done quite well with a huge spike occurring at the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

Now as disturbing as it is that many corporations profit from war it is even more disturbing when you dig a little deeper. As of 2011 it is completely legal for congressmen and women to invest in the very companies that they award military contracts to.

Legislation called, "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act (H.R. 682)" was introduced by Brian Baird, US Representative (D-WA) to prevent this type of investing, but it has gone nowhere in Congress.

So this raises the question as to the ethical standards of many congressmen and women who are allowing each other to profit from the very wars and DoD contracts they are voting for.

If some of our congressmen and women were held to the same ethical trading standards as ordinary citizens, then they would be charged with insider trading. Being able to invest in companies that you are awarding contracts to is simply a huge conflict of interest and should not be allowed especially with contracts that are war related.

So I will end this article with one last somewhat disturbing statistic. As of 2009, the United States of America is responsible for 46.5 percent of the entire world's military spending. The next closest country is China at 6.6 percent.

So the next time you here politicians talking about making cuts to programs such as Medicare or Social Security remember that sobering statistic. Whether we all want to admit it or not, America is largely a war based economy now, and for that I am truly saddened. I love America as a whole, but I am dissappointed that war has become such a large part of her nature.

In my humble opinion, it is time to bring all the troops home to their families, and to start rebuilding our own society again. Our tax money needs to be spent on items that contribute to a better American society as a whole; instead of bombs and bullets that contribute nothing but death and destruction to others.