SEND THE BILL TO THE BUSH/CHENEY REPUBLICANS

These are the very same A-holes who whine and moan about spending "too much" on healthcare, food stamps and social security. The infrastructure? Absolutely not.



Talking about raising taxes on the people who invested and heavily profited on these wars is considered heresy.



There's no question the this country is in a terrible financial mess and there's no indication that the elite minoritynis about to foot the bill to clean it up.



Maybe the 2014 mid-terms and the 2016 Presidential can still save what's left of what was once a prosperous and powerful nation.

Afghanistan, Iraq to Cost U.S. Over $4 Trillion

This figure includes direct outlays for America’s three main military operations:
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - The official name for America’s war in Afghanistan.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) - The official name for America’s war in Iraq (which some may remember by its original title: Operation Iraqi Liberation, or OIL).
Operation New Dawn (OND) - The official title for America’s war in Iraq under President Obama’s command (2010 to present).

These operations were implemented under the umbrella of America’s Global War on Terror. In 2006, President George W. Bush would tell CNBC that the war on terror was nothing less than “the first counter-attack to World War III.”

That counter-attack, or World War III, continues through the present day, twelve years after the first and only attack on America’s home soil since the turn of the century. In that time, America has financed its $2 trillion war mainly by borrowing from foreign lenders. It has in fact only paid $260 billion of that so far, which is merely the interest accrued on our debt.

Yet the ultimate costs of America’s wars in the Middle East will accumulate long after they have officially ended. Medical care and disability benefits will be due to their veterans for a generation to come, damaged equipment will need to be replaced, and Obama has promised to build a “Strategic Partnership” with Afghanistan. This will likely include American management of its police and military forces.

All told, Harvard calculates that the price tag for these conflicts will double and potentially triple. That means $4 trillion at its most conservative and $6 trillion at its highest.