Yowza. This is disturbing, an amount that we didn’t need to spend on an illegal war. It’s stunning. When I think of everything going on in this country, it’s also painful. And we can bet that we’re running out of hi-tech munitions too, so more money down the drain to replace them. All for a war that the US and Israel started. All for a war we (mostly) don’t believe in. Mostly, because some do. With gratitude to Raw Story:
Experts raged on Wednesday night after the cost of President Donald Trump’s first week at war with Iran was revealed. The Associated Press reported that the first week of the war cost $11.3 billion, which includes all of the munitions used in the bombing operations that killed former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destroyed a girls’ school, killing 175 civilians in the process. The report was published at a time when the Trump administration is facing considerable backlash for bombing Iran, which Trump himself described as both a “war” and an “excursion” during a press conference on Wednesday.
11.3 BILLION. I see the words but can’t imagine what that would actually *look* like. And this is just in the first week! How much more has poured down the drain since then? Now Iran is turning around and shooting back. They’ve closed the Strait. There are cargo ships burning. No oil/LNG tankers have been hit – yet. That’s the word that’s important. Yet. And this is no damn “excursion”.
The total cost of the war caused a stir on social media. “Say what? How can we afford these massive outlays?” political strategist Donna Brazile posted on X. “Every President since Clinton has opposed Iran getting a bomb, destroying the neighbors (Middle Eastern nations), and being a state sponsor of terrorism worldwide. But we still have no real strategy or endgame?” “That money was enough to save the lives of more than 3 million children worldwide, with nutritional paste for malnutrition, bed nets against malaria, vaccination programs, and community health workers,” NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff posted on X. “Instead, we spent it blowing up people and things, and raising gas prices.”
When you start thinking about that, in those numbers, it’s a little easier to parse. There are so many good things we could have done with that money, even here at home, especially here at home. Instead, we threw it away with no apparent decent results. The war is not one-sided anymore. Was the synagogue attack in Detroit today related to this war?
“$11.3 billion on war for Iran, but tell me again how we don’t have enough money for health care,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) posted on X. //// “Affordability,” legal expert Joyce Vance posted on X. “From the people who don’t think hardworking taxpayers deserve assistance with food, medical care, or housing.”
“The same people who cut pediatric cancer research on their ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ crusade apparently have a blank check for a war they can’t even explain,” author Chasten Buttigieg posted on X. //// “We could have provided housing for every homeless person in the country for less than what Trump spent in the first week of his war with Iran,” TV commentator Kaivan Shroff posted on X.
It’s already starting to feel like another endless war. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq (and my Marine brother was in Iraq a good deal of the time). Now Iran? Let’s hope not, but there isn’t much hope to be had. Israel and we have pounded them, but they are only bent, not broken. The shock is past for everyone. There’s unrest here because of the war, and innocent people are getting attacked. Is this ever going to end? Before it’s too late?
See you soon!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
11.3 $ billion over roughly 11.3 days sure makes the math easy.
Pretty soon we’ll be spending real money.
*cringe* That’s one of the things that worries me.