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So far, we will have spent $151 billion through this fiscal year, on the war/occupation in Iraq. That works out to $3,415 for every household in the United States.
According to a report done by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington based think tank, the $151 billion was enough to cut world hunger in half, as well as cover HIV/AIDS medicine, childhood immunization and clean water and sanitation needs of all developing countries for more than two years.
Here are some of my own figures:
If we were doing what we should to make our country safer and more secure, the $151 billion we are spending on Iraq would be able to cover :
$18.3 million shortfall in the border patrol budget.
Cuts that total $253 million to the Border and Transportation Directorate, which, among other things, is in charge of coming up with a rail safety plan. Currently, because of a lack of money and a lack of serious concern, there is no plan to better secure our rails from terrorism.
$79 million slashed from the Port Security budget.
$1 billion in funding cuts to law enforcement agencies.
$245 million in cuts to firefighter grants.
$233 million in cuts to the bioterrorism budget
$800 million shortfall to the First Responders budget.
$10 billion in an unfunded mandate for inter-operable communications equipment for police, fire and medical personnel in cities around the country.
$900 million to fund a study assessing water systems vulnerability. That cost does not include what it would cost to actually safeguard our nation's water systems.
$100 million worth of needed smallpox vaccinations.
All this doesn't cover the $29 billion gap in security funding that the states face.
The total cost to better protect our country would be roughly $42.5 billion, for a savings of over 108 billion dollars. The savings in human cost is incalculable.
Joe Fields
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