Price

Caledonian-record.com

St. Johnsbury, Vermont · Thursday, October 20th, 2005 · Updated 11:40am

Letters to the Editor



The price of war

Thursday October 20, 2005





To the Editor:

Despite the relatively small number of American armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (140,000), the war effort is rapidly shaping up to be the third-most expensive war in United States history. This conflict has already cost each American at least $850 in military and reconstruction costs since October 2001.

If the war lasts another five years, it will cost nearly $1.4 trillion, calculates Linda Bilmes, who teaches budgeting at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Nearly every one of America's wars were for some kind of trade advantage or money or for territory or oil - which of course were always fought under different excuses, even as far back as the Civil War. They are trying to pull a compromise by replacing the American soldiers with Gulf War II, and keeping the war running to maintain the sick economy. So Big Business continues to produce war toys, well-lubricated with the blood of human sacrifices, as usual.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Menlo Park, Calif.