Why does Iraq cost so much???

I don't mind sending the soldiers to die, they signed up for it.
I don't mind killing the insurgents, we gave them the opportunity for peace.
I don't mind the long process of political reconciliation, these things take time.
I don't mind that the Republicans are in the toilet, I vote for the Dems.

BUT, I DO mind spending $200,000,000,000 every year on this war.  WTF!  Are we using gold bullets?  Do the GIs eat lobster everday and shit on silver toilets.  Why can't we do that for a fraction of the cost?  I'm thinking 40 billion a year, tops!

>>1
I could be wrong, but I think the govt spent a lot of money on the war because we took exceptional care to avoid unnecessary casualties.  On the other hand, this strategy might be cheaper in the long run because then we won't have to spend as much on soldiers benefits/medical benefits and stuff.

>>1
Oh and by the way, some law was just passed that grants about that much just for foreign aid, lol (40billion).

>>3

$40 billion for foreign aid is fine, it's the $200BILLION a year in Iraq that I wonder about.  I mean, how fucking hard is it to give some guns to some 20 year olds and tell them to march around for 15 months?

Food for Oil.  We send money to buy food, plus administration costs, and then the money is mysteriously gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWpWc_suPWo

>>5
I don't see why so many people persecute Halliburton, they are simply a legitimate business arrangement providing jobs for over 100000 people which is occasionally contracted by the US government. This doesn't mean they influence government policy any more than a sugar beet refinement factory.

>>7
just stupid liberal leftists

>>4
40billion a year is a lot.. and it adds up over time.  The reason the budget is so out of wack is not JUST the war, although that IS a big part of it, no doubt.  Part of the problem is all these spending programs like the one I just talked about that nobody in congress is questioning.  The republicans seem to have lost their passion for keeping government constrained and lean.  Hopefully they'll shape up soon.  When you have big-government republicans and big-government democrats in office, the budget is bound to get out of hand.

>>9  

try again faggot.  the budget for the defense department alone (not the wars) is over $500 billion a year.  the wars add another $200 billion a year. 

all other discretionary spending (FBI, welfare, EPA, CIA, NOAA, FAA, FDA, FEMA, Dept. Agriculture, etc) adds up to only about $450 billion. 

the war and the military form the HUGE part of discretionary spending.  we could still be militarily dominant and achieve financial solvency if we cut the pentagon budget in half and GTFO of iraq.  but then again, the military is kinda like welfare for all those high school dropouts who have nowhere else to go.  God forbid we create some kind of educational system for them.

>>4
If it concerns you, write your representatives and tell them you are pissed off.  Tell them to quit spending so much money and be more frugal.  Here's some links at which you can contact your representatives: 

http://www.gunowners.org/
(click the legislative action center link)

http://www.nraila.org/
(put your mouse over 'Take Action!' and select the 'write your representatives' option)

http://www.mpp.org/site/c.glKZLeMQIsG/b.1086497/k.BF78/Home.htm
You might want to tell your representatives to quit wasting billions of dollars a year on the failed War on Drugs...

http://www.ntu.org/main/
The website of the National Taxpayers Union... write your reps here and tell them to cut taxes and spending..

http://www.atr.org/
Another website for tax/spending advocacy.

http://www.freedomworks.org/
Another website for advocacy on economic issues (includes taxes & spending.)

http://www.downsizedc.org/
Another website dedicated to shrinking the size and cost of govt.

I suggest you try NTU's taxpayer action center here:
http://ga1.org/ntu_action/home.html

>>9
The irony is that Clinton actually balanced the budget. Then Shrub went on a spending spree.

Seriously, white is black and the sky is falling. What the fuck?

I want the days back when the most exciting thing on Tee Vee was a stained dress and cigars.

>>10
"the budget for the defense department alone (not the wars) is over $500 billion a year.  the wars add another $200 billion a year."

Exactly, so the War is a lot of the expenditure, but it is not everything, like I said.  So how about YOU try again, faggot. 

As I said in my original post: 
"The reason the budget is so out of wack is not JUST the war, although that IS a big part of it, no doubt."

>>1  We spend about 40 billion on the war. The other 160 billion goes to keep congress from surrendering

because you're too dumb to pay your IRS while there is no legal background in most states that imply you must pay it to the federal government

My Halliburton shares have skyrocketed. Every dead GI makes me a richer man. Keep it up. Invade Iran and I can have that condo in Florida. God bless War! Go War President! Kick their asses!

Solution :

Get the hell out of Iraq.
Don't send troops, you are not welcome.
Don't kill people, you are the invaders, actually. Go home.
"Long process of political reconciliation"? Your scam failed, now get out.
Stop looting oil - Get your own market, robber barons.

In this spirit...
Make peace, not US-policy.

OP here,

no one's addressed why war costs so much.  are we dropping billions to spend on effete little F-22 Raptors that we don't even need?  are the submariners having expensive year long underwater gay sex tours?  are we filling the Humvees up with 93 octane?

what gives?

>>1
Most of the money goes toward providing equipment for Al'qaeda and other militias because the US Army is too stupid to know who it is giving the weapons to.

The US also does not check what the money is spent on, allowing the Iraqi Government to embezzle a whole years military budget.

the american philosophy is to put a wall of lead between the soldier and the enemy, if the enemy is a wily foe then you need a lot of lead to fill even crack