Can I just say that the endless war in the Middle East is destroying our country? Much like [View all]

[grahamhgreen]

the Afghan war bankrupted the Soviet Union, these current wars of ours are bankrupting us.

Worse, it's being done on the backs of students, the elderly, our children and the poor.

Worse still, it is killing innocents in the middle east; and every escalation we take elevates our enemies stature and strength.

15 years we've been at this and the situation worsens daily.

Our latest escapade - 50 boots on the ground in Syria - comes with a 30 billion dollar price tag - half the cost of free higher education for all. There is no discussion of taxing the wealthiest to help pay for the war. No discussion at all of deficit spending when it's done for war. No discussion of the morality of continuing a war that was started by lies.

In my view, our military isn't destroying our enemies, it's destroying us.

Thanks!

War Costs to Date

Total War Funding: $1.64 trillion has been allocated through the Overseas Contingency Operations (war) fund, including $73.3 billion in fiscal year 2015.

Iraq: $817.8 billion has been allocated for the war in Iraq since 2003, including an estimated $1.0 billion in fiscal year 2015.

Afghanistan: $714.8 billion has been allocated for the war in Afghanistan since 2001, including $35.1 billion in fiscal year 2015.

ISIS: $6.2 billion has been allocated to fight the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL), including $5.4 billion in fiscal year 2015.

Pentagon Slush Fund: Overseas Contingency Operations has been used to funnel a conservatively estimated $100.9 billion in non-war spending to the Pentagon to avoid legislated budget caps, including an estimated $30 billion in fiscal year 2015.