What the Mounting Costs Of War Have Bought "Without a direct action expression of it, nonviolence, to my mind, is meaningless." -- Mahatma Gandhi "We who work for peace must not falter. We must continue to pray for peace and to act for peace in whatever way we can, we must continue to speak for peace and to live the way of peace;  to inspire others, we must continue to think of peace and to know that peace is possible." -- Peace Pilgrim "Instead of hating people you think are warmakers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another."  -- Thomas Merton "A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

  March 1, 2005  

What the Mounting Costs of War Have Bought

From United For Peace, produced by the Institute for Policy Studies  for United for Peace and Justice

Costs to U.S. Military

• U.S. Military killed in Iraq: 1,420

• Number of U.S. troops wounded: More than 10,000

• Percentage of soldiers reporting low morale: 52%

• Number of returning troops in need of mental health care: Over 100,000

• Status of Army National Guard Recruitment: down 30%

• Percentage of police departments missing officers due to Iraq deployments: 44%

• Percentage of Americans who believe that the Iraq War has worsened the U.S. image in the world: 65%

Costs to Iraqis:

• Iraqi Civilians killed: Over 15,000

• Average # of attacks by Iraqi Resistance per week: 425

• Percentage of Iraqis expressing “no confidence” in U.S. civilian authorities or coalition forces: 80%

• Number of Insurgents in Iraq in November 2003: 5,000

• Number of Insurgents in January 2005: 40,000, plus 200,000 sympathizers

Economic Costs:

• Estimated long-term cost of war to every U.S. household: $3,415

• Average monthly cost of Iraq War: $5.8 billion 

• Average monthly cost of Vietnam War, adjusted for inflation: $5.2 billion

The $151 billion already allocated for the U.S. war could have purchased:

• Housing vouchers for 23 million families or

• Health care for 27 million uninsured Americans or

• 3 million new elementary school teachers or

• Two years worth of: food for half the hungry people in the world AND a comprehensive global AIDS treatment and prevention program AND clean water and sanitation throughout the developing world AND childhood immunizations for all children in the developing world

United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 800 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.

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