A political maven I’m not, but I did come across a couple interesting thoughts today.
From Jim Wallis over at sojo.net:
The most recent USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that… sixty-two percent [of the public] now say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, the first time that number has topped 60 percent.
U.S. casualties now exceed 3,600, with the number of those wounded or emotionally and mentally scarred almost as countless now as the stories about returning veterans not receiving the help and attention they need. The human cost of this war has been as enormous as it has been discriminatory and unjust, with almost all the burden borne by working-class families whose sons and daughters chose military service, and not by the families and children of the elites who fabricated the case for it, grossly mismanaged its prosecution, and politically force its continuance.
The financial cost is staggering — a new Congressional Research Service study reported that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now cost $12 billion per month. When that monthly price tag is compared to the $10 billion per year it would cost to educate the world’s 800 million children under six years old, the contrast opens up a real debate on what truly makes for national and global security.
Uh, wow.
I understand and respect (at least partially on both counts) the obvious complexity of a situation like this. But, my goodness…
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