Financial Costs of War

Even the lower sum of 100 BILLION DOLLARS is a lot of MONEY, e.g. :

• 40% of the federal budget of Germany
  
• in 100 dollar notes piled up you would reach a height of 100 kilometers;

this is equal to the distance between Frankfurt and Heidelberg or Hamburg and Bremen
• as much as a 6-number lottery win every day for 600 yrs
• 3 times what the US federal government spends on K-12 education
• more than 4 times the US international affairs budget
• 12 times the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget in the US

With that amount of money you could (in the US or UK):

• build 145,000 kindergartens (there is currently a shortage of 200,000 places for kids in Germany)
• secure health care coverage for all 11 million uninsured children in the US for 5 years
• finance preschool Head Start for over 14 million children in the US
• rebuild almost all schools in the US that need to be rebuilt
• pay student fees for 400,000 US students for 123 years;
  there are as many students from low income families who cannot afford to go to college
• provide affordable housing for 1,430,000 families in the US
• pay 1,900,000 elementary teachers in the US for 1 year
• pay 2,100,000 physicians or teachers for 1 year;

by the way, in poor countries of this world 20 to 50 times as many people !
• pay 3,300,000 nurses, geriatric care or social workers for 1 year
• create 3,500,000 job training places for 3 years (or job creation schemes)
• send 280,000 peace workers for nonviolent conflict resolution
  for 10 years into former Yugoslavia or Israel & Palestine
• give 50 years of the charity money for humanitarian causes in Germany
• pay the whole German budget for health research for 66 years
• increase 180-fold the total amount of federal funds spent so far in Germany on solar technology
• fund peace research in Germany for 23,000 years

Alternatively, at WORLD level you could:

• provide all children on earth with enough food, a basic medical care,
  primary education and clean water for 3 1/4 years !, according to UNICEF
• pay the entire UN budget (including peace enforcement and specialist organizations) for 13 years
  or cover the costs of all UN peace-keeping missions (in 1996) for 80 years;
  by the way, the USA hasn't paid its full dues to the United Nations for several years now
• finance the budget of UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) for 80 years
  or the budget of the WHO (World Health Organization) for 250 years
• fund the work of OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) for 540 years, or
• finance the work of Greenpeace International for 700 years

See the potential ?

Guess what percentage of money is being spent by the US on energy conservation and regenerative energies per year ?
Greg told me its 3 % = 3 billion dollars.

Guess what percentage of money is being spent by the US on international development aid ?

As usual, while billions are being wasted on WAR only millions are being invested in PEACE.

Now, what could be done with 2,000 BILLION DOLLARS, 20 TIMES the amount ?

• which by the way equals the federal budget of the USA !

Don't you think it is worthwhile to STAND UP against an (unjustified) ATTACK ?

NO WAR !

What is the prize of one human life ? (thoughtful reflections for fans of statistics)

• What does it cost to kill one Iraqi in war ? - At most 1,000,000 dollars.
  The United Nations expects at least 100,000 immediate dead and 400,000 dead in the aftermath of war, 500,000 wounded and at least 900,000 refugees, 3 million people suffering from severe hunger and thirst, 2 million severely malnourished children, and 2 million people without adequate shelter.


A British study by physicians (MEDACT) comes to similar conclusions.
The impact of a new war on Iraqi children has been assessed by medical experts recently.
Here is another confidential United Nations study on the impact of war in Iraq.
• What does it cost to help one child survive in poor countries ? - 100 dollars per year.
  Therefore, with 100 billion dollars, up to 1 billion children could be helped to survive for one year !

Remarks

The direct costs of the first Gulf War were 80 billion dollars;
not to mention the indirect and follow-up costs and the human suffering.
Do you know the number of victims and the injured US und UK soldiers ?

Another excellent resource is the critical National Priorities Project and the
Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) - a conservative think tank.
Read also what President Eisenhower had to say on this subject in 1953.

This is a dynamic project and depends on YOUR input !
Suggestions will be included as soon as possible.
In particular valuable links are always welcome !
Please send us an email.

Do you like the idea ? Then please tell many others ! betterworldlinks.org

Here you find amongst others 2,000 links on Iraq & USA :
e.g. reasons, voices and actions against the war.
Please feel free to use numbers and links on your flyers and handbills.

You want to help ? Welcome !
We need every hand and brain.

Dr. Norbert, M.D. on 23. January 2003

Some numbers are from 1996 (see Eurofighter flyer) and are +/- 10% accurat. 1 Dollar = 1 Euro, for easier comparison.

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Created: 23.01.2003 Updated: 30.01.2003