Recently I was asked for a radio spot the following question: Given the concern about federal spending in budgets, bailouts and economic stimulus, should we also be concerned that the estimated cost of the Iraq War will end up being around $2 trillion dollars?
I don’t know whose estimate this is or where it comes from. As far as I can tell, the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is still just under 1 trillion dollars. I cannot imagine that we are going to spend in the future more than we have spent since September 2001 because I cannot imagine this dragging on for that many years. However, even if the number in the question is as inflated as I believe it to be, what we have spent is a matter of very great concern, or should be. A trillion dollars is a huge percentage of the Gross Domestic Product of the entire country. It is about $3,500 for every man, woman and child in the United States. It is one of the big reasons our economy is in such dismal state and has contributed to the crushing debt we have accumulated. We cannot afford to be the world’s police force any longer, and we should not continue to try to do that job.
Dugan Barr has practiced law in Redding since 1967. He has tried more than 200 civil jury cases to verdict. He is married and has five children. The offices of Barr and Mudford, LLP, are at 1824 Court St. in Redding and can be reached at 243-8008.
