[http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/cartoonv\ et1.jpg] <http://www.cagle.com/caglecards/main.asp?image=http://www.cagle.com/wor\ king/100526/parker.jpg>
Cartoon link: http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/cartoonve\ t1.jpg PLUS Cost of the wars to date - $1 trillion --The cost of the United States' wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost taxpayers more than one trillion dollars, a Massachusetts nonprofit said Sunday, marking a grim milestone on the eve of the Memorial Day holiday. According to the group, the threshold was crossed Sunday at 10:06 am ET, based on Congressional appropriations for the wars. To date, the group notes, $747.3 billion has been appropriated for the U.S. war in Iraq and $299 billion for the war in Afghanistan. http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0531/sad-milestone-cost-wars-passes-1-trilli\ on/ War cost including indirect and delayed costs - up to $3 trillion According to a Congressional Budget Office <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_Office> (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion dollars by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money. The CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq, or $6,300 per U.S. citizen.[9] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#cite_note-k\ ip-8> [10] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#cite_note-9\ > Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank> and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Economics> , has stated the total costs of the Iraq War on the US economy will be three trillion dollars in a moderate scenario, and possibly more in the most recent published study, published in March 2008.[11] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#cite_note-t\ imesuk-10> Stiglitz has stated: "The figure we arrive at is more than $3 trillion. Our calculations are based on conservative assumptions...Needless to say, this number represents the cost only to the United States. It does not reflect the enormous cost to the rest of the world, or to Iraq."[11] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#cite_note-t\ imesuk-10> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War#Indirect_and\ _delayed_costs
