Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. (President Dwight D. Eisenhower)
How much did it cost to bomb three sites in Iran? We didn’t lose any pilots or planes, and since we gave Iran warning few if any of their people were killed so the cost in blood was minimal. The MONEY spent on the strike? That’s another matter. The whole mission likely had a price tag of over $400 million and possibly over $500MB. Think I’m kidding? Sixteen GBU-57 “Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs were dropped. The cost per bomb is classified but known to be in the tens of millions. At say $20M each that’s $320 just for those alone.
However that wasn’t all that got dropped. There were smaller ‘bunker buster” bombs dropped and a number of cruise missiles, each costing many millions per unit in and of themselves. Gen. Caine said 75 munitions were dropped so it’s not a stretch to say besides the ‘big boys’ another $100M of bombs got dropped. Oh but there’s more! The B2 bombers used cost $150k per flight hour to operate. That means the ones for the actual strike, with a round trip time of 18 hours cost almost $19 million. Not counting the cost of tankers for mid-air refueling and the actual fuel costs. Running the tab up to over $30 million.
Then there were all those bombers deployed to Guam to provide a “fake out” for the actual attack. It’s not hard to imagine another $20 million in flight hours, plus all the support (mid-air refueling etc.) costs adding yet another thirty million bucks. It’s not a stretch at all to say this cost U.S. taxpayers of upwards of a HALF-BILLION DOLLARS. All so Trump could put on a show of being not the butt of TACO wisecracks but a ‘tough guy.’ Maybe if we’d just let him blow a hundred million on his bigly parade and his ego wasn’t so butt-hurt we could have saved a small fortune. But a lot of lives were risked (a lot can go wrong on long flights over oceans and refueling is a dangerous maneuver for some planes. Like those designed for stealth missions with heavy payloads instead of maneuverability.
So I find myself asking what else that money could have been spent on? Even if within the DOD itself? Things like expanding the VA Healthcare system. Decent base housing for troops, as well as schools and other facilities. More money for training for those who actually have to stare down rifle sights. Of course there’s plenty of civilian stuff it could have been spent on as well.
People should really think about what the man who led us to victory in Europe in WWII and then became President said during the Cold War. I think about this quote and something else he said during that speech often. Even during my time on active duty in the Marines all those decades ago while the Cold War was still something we lived with. Earlier today on Politizoom Ursula posted an article that stunned me. Why? The notion our ‘Reality’ TV President would wage a ‘Reality War’ isn’t far fetched at all.
I’d written my own article about Trump cousin Mary’s assessment – that Donald’s fee-fees were hurt over the TACO jokes so he lashed out to show he’s NOT a “chicken.” (Sorry Donny BOY – you are the quintessential ‘Chicken Hawk’) What does Trumpty care about how much it cost? HE didn’t have to pay for it! Not even in taxes as he’ll either have his returns rigged to say he doesn’t owe any (and who at the IRS would challenge him?) or just write an Executive Order that President’s (at least him) don’t have to pay taxes.
But an awful lot of good could have been done with that money. And, if this does turn out to be a “show war’ where both sides bluster and posture but take real steps to ensure only property destruction plenty more will be WASTED. All because we have a President with a massive ego at war with an equally massive inferiority complex. Who hates himself because the latter is who/what he truly is.
I mentioned Eisenhower’s speech. Contrary to what I’ve sometimes heard from conservative friends he really did say what I quoted above and more. Many, including me at one time attributed it to being said during his farewell address to the nation. He did warn about the impending ‘Military/Industrial Complex’ in it but the quote in question is from years earlier. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gun-quote-eisenhower/Snopes did a write-up on it and confirmed the speech and the quote. However they note it was given to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1953 after the death of Stalin. Ike hoped we might find a different path than the Cold War we’d become caught up in.
The speech was called ‘The Chance For Peace Speech’ but also became known as the ‘Cross Of Iron’ speech. No matter what it’s called it was profound. In addition to the already highlighted quote Ike/Eisenhower listed some easily understandable comparisons to the cost of the weapons of war:
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
He concluded that part of the speech by saying: “This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” I’m not some Pollyanna. I know there are dangerous leaders in this world who require free nations to be ready to fight at any time in order to preserve freedom. Hell, I was a Marine grunt when I was a far younger man! I won’t bore you with more talk about my father and his generation that fought and won WWII. I’ll just say had that generation not stood up and endured incredible sacrifice this world would have been far worse off.
Sometimes there’s no choice. It’s roll over and submit to horrors history has shown us can happen again and again or fight back. Do what it takes to stop the bad guys. Better still keep them from starting sh*t in the first place. However as I see it war should only be waged when it’s the last of a sh*tty set of options. CHOOSING to start one, even one meant for mere ‘show’ is wrong. And stupid. And DANGEROUS. That’s especially true in the the middle east. This whole thing could spin out of control in a heartbeat. All because of one uniquely unqualified for the job President having his feelings hurt.
Worse, we have a submissive GOP that will make noises (some of them) at a time like this but won’t do the ONE thing they need to. Join with the Democrats to impeach him, convict him in the Senate and forever remove him from political power. All we can do is work like hell, and hope we can help what few sane Republicans there are to hold things in check until the midterms. In the meantime, if you need a reason to offer others to get involved tell them what I’ve written here. Tell them about the massive waste of money and point out things they WANT the government to be doing like fixing roads and bridges, building schools, keeping rural hospitals (who depend on Medicaid dollars) funded etc.
**************************
We thank all of you who have donated. You’re keeping this blog on the internet, believe me. One of the battles we fight is the inconstancy of ad revenue because politics in this country is so polarized and a lot of advertisers just seek to avoid the political. They’d rather advertise on food blogs and be safe, doughnuts before democracy. All we’re trying to do is stay in business because we believe the work is important. Thank you if you can assist. If we didn’t need it, we wouldn’t be asking. Ursula
