Spend money on improving life at home, not on wars

Richard Secrist, Mesquite

Friday, May 28, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.

On the Facebook page about Rethink Afghanistan, the following question was recently posed: How would you spend the $1 trillion we have wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Upon being presented with a menu of things one could buy, together with their associated costs, I was able to pick out nine big-ticket items and still have $595.5 billion to spare. Here’s my list:

1. Hire 1 million music/arts teachers for a year at $58.5 billion.

2. Hire 1 million elementary school teachers for one year at $61.1 billion.

3. Provide health care for 1 million children for one year at $2.3 billion.

4. Provide health care for 1 million average people for one year at $3.4 billion.

5. Provide a one-year university scholarship for 1 million students at $7.9 billion.

6. Provide 1 million affordable housing units at $129 billion.

7. Head Start placement for 1 million children for one year at $7.3 billion.

8. Renewable energy for 1 million residences for one year at $969.3 million.

9. Buy out Bill Gates and Warren Buffett at $133 billion each.

What would you buy?

With one in 10 out of work here at home, and families with children going without essential services, shouldn’t we be spending this money making life better at home?

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are colossal mistakes whose only purpose seems to be to enrich defense contractors and profiteers.

They are impoverishing the nation and unnecessarily sacrificing our youth.

Bring the troops home, and stop the madness.