next time they say we couldn't afford the Iraqi War...

.. point them to this article



The claim: The meme is simple: The economy is in a shambles because of Bush's economic policies and his war in Iraq.

The numbers:

The key point in the mantra is an alleged $3 trillion cost for the war. Well, it was expensive to be sure, in both blood and treasure, but, as Hoven notes, the CBO puts the total cost at $709 billion

That's the CBO's numbers... 709 billion dollars for the entire War in Iraq


* Obama's stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War -- more than $100 billion (15%) more.


* Just the first two years of Obama's stimulus cost more than the entire cost of the Iraq War under President Bush, or six years of that war.


* Iraq War spending accounted for just 3.2% of all federal spending while it lasted.


* Iraq War spending was not even one quarter of what we spent on Medicare in the same time frame.


* Iraq War spending was not even 15% of the total deficit spending in that time frame. The cumulative deficit, 2003-2010, would have been four-point-something trillion dollars with or without the Iraq War.


* The Iraq War accounts for less than 8% of the federal debt held by the public at the end of 2010 ($9.031 trillion).


* During Bush's Iraq years, 2003-2008, the federal government spent more on education that it did on the Iraq War. (State and local governments spent about ten times more.)