Cost of war hits $1 trillion
Leah Bolger from Corvallis, Oregon, 03.06.2010 16:47
"For $1 trillion, we could immediately give every one of the 15.4 million unemployed people in the United States a $50,000 job and still have $235 billion left over."-Leah Bolger
Leah Bolger is Vice President nationally of Veterans for Peace. VfP has a strong presence including here in our Southern Oregon region
Veterans for Peace 
http://www.veteransforpeace.org
Rogue Valley VfP #156 http://rv-vfp156.org
Below you can see Bolger's strong statement regarding the "COST OF WAR"
* * * Leah Bolger * * *
--- -- - VfP #156 member Allen Hallmark provides a brief intro - -- ---
Leah Bolger is a retired U.S. Navy commander who is now one of Oregon's strongest voices for peace from her home in Corvallis. Leah, who has been arrested for protesting the wars and thrown out of Congressional committee meetings, has submitted the following letter to the editor to the Corvallis newspaper. I copied this (below) from her Facebook post.-Allen Hallmark
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It is impossible to put a dollar figure on the value of a human being; therefore there is no way to express in monetary terms the value of the thousands of lives that have been lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. There is no way to calculate the value of a limb or eyesight, or the emotional damage from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In addition to the loss of life, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing this country dearly. At 7:06 a.m. Sunday, the bill is expected to reach the $1 trillion mark.
For $1 trillion, we could immediately give every one of the 15.4 million unemployed people in the United States a $50,000 job and still have $235 billion left over. Corvallis residents have already contributed $100 million towards these wars. It costs $1 million to keep one soldier in Afghanistan for a year.
Recently our city council was forced to cut $2.4 million in city services. I would much rather have my tax dollars spent keeping the library open and fully staffing our fire department than to fund 2.4 soldiers.
The price of war is too high. Congress will be voting very soon on a $33 billion war funding supplemental, which is on top of $159 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and which is on top of the $549 billion for the Department of Defense budget. Call Senators Wyden and Merkley, and Representatives DeFazio and Schrader, and ask them to vote NO on war spending.
Leah Bolger, Corvallis
