45% More

The Pentagon will be asking for another $100 billion to fund its efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and "the longer war against terror". This will bring FY2007's war costs to almost $107 billion, 45% more than we spent in FY2006. Who knows whether more will be sought later in the fiscal year which still has nine months to go? This round brings the total spent on these efforts to $507 billion since 2001; that's about $1600 for every man, woman and child in the US. And still we're told that the Bush tax cuts should be made permanent. What madness makes some of our leaders believe that the tax cuts (primarily for the wealthy) are on balance good for this country?

It's difficult to figure out how much of this round will be spent on the "longer war", but the question is whether the money could be spent more wisely on this 'longer war' by law enforcement groups rather than by the military.

Training the Iraqi and Afghan forces will receive as much money, $9 billion, in this budget round as it has received in total since 2001.