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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/gallery/251007war_costs/If the Bush administration succeeds in its latest request for funding for the war in Iraq, the total cost would rise to $611.5 billion, according to the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit research group.
The amount got us wondering: What would $611 billion buy?
* Nearly 4,000 Newton North High Schools - Tagged as the most expensive high school in Massachusetts, at $154.6 million, the construction design for the new Newton North High School could be replicated almost 4,000 times using the money spent on the war.
* 40 Big Digs - At almost $15 billion, Boston's Central Artery project has been held up as the nation's most expensive public works project. Now multiply that by 40 and you're getting close to US taxpayers’ commitment to democracy in Iraq – so far.
* Almost 18 months' worth of free gas for everyone in the US
* Many, many environment-friendly cars on the road. With $611 billion, you could convert all cars in America to run on ethanol nine times over.
* Nearly 14 million years' worth of tuition, room, and board at Harvard... Tuition and fees at the University of Massachusetts-Boston could be paid for over 53 million years.
* More than a year's worth of Medicare benefits for everyone
* The Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka agreed on a six-year, $52 million contract. The war cost could be enough to have Dice-K mania for more than 70,000-some years at this year's rate.
* At the upper range of those estimates, the $611 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world's poor for seven years.
Now 60-something of Iraq's 80-something oil fields are going to be sold to multinationals, Kurdistan is on the brink of seceding, American soldiers are getting killed on a daily basis, the United States has alienated many loyal allies all over the world (even Canada, believe it or not), the American people are hated all over the world more than ever, and the national debt has hit $9 trillion. Well that was sure money well spent! & it doesn't look like anything is going to change once Bush is gone. The current people running for president are even more extreme than he & Cheney are!
Can people brainstorm more? How many Libraries of Congress could the government have built with that kind of money? How many Fermilabs, how many Golden Gate Bridges, how many Hoover Dams, how many World Trade Centres, how many New York subway systems, how many interstate highway systems?
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