Where Do Our Priorities Lie?

Healthcare. Education. The War on Terror. The War on Drugs. The Iraq War. Homeland Security. Buzzwords on an all-too-familiar view of CNN or Fox News, depending on the day you catch it. Pundits vehemently argue politics and policy while videos of burning humvees pop up on the screen and the tape rolling beneath it reads, “15 more US soldiers die by IEDs in Anbar province and across Iraq.” The clip doesn’t even solicit a response from the spitfire of the pundits; meanwhile, a professor joining the discussion by satellite from an Ivy League university begins to argue something profound:

“Can’t the money pumped into the War in Iraq be better spent on education and healthcare?”

Silence. Doubt creeps onto the pundits’ faces. The professor is winning his argument already. The cost of the War in Iraq alone is skyrocketing, and there is no sign in sight of the funding decreasing. Government corruption in the US and Iraq is rampant, with high-ranking US officials having corporate ties to the civilian contractors who are protecting our men and women in uniform. An evolving, ancient sectarian fight between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims is constantly threatening the rebuilding of infrastructure in the country. More security and more troops and more funding are required to battle the insurgents.

MORE is always the focus, but the play on words is more profound when it focuses on funding and battle. Already the Iraq War is costing taxpayers $471,783,400,000, and it is increasing daily.1

What does all that money translate to? The gas stations across the country are no indicator, with gas topping $3.00 in most places, so cheaper oil is out of the question. But isn’t that why the Commander-in-Chief is sending our sons and daughters into harms way for – cheaper oil?

Maintaining stability might be a rational argument if the United States government did not undermine the most stable thing Iraq had going for it – Saddam Hussein. The lesser of two evils is displayed with Saddam versus disruption spreading from Iraq to surrounding nations. In the 1980s, Saddam’s regime was responsible for the extermination of 180,000 Kurds.2 Now, compare that to the number of Iraqi deaths since the US-led occupation - 1.2 million.3 American deaths since the beginning of the war – 3,905.4 While the number of American deaths may seem small compared to the Iraqi deaths, that’s roughly one entire Brigade Combat Team now resting in Arlington National Cemetery. With each soldier, marine, sailor, or airman outfitted war, the cost becomes even higher.

Here is a safer alternative. America becomes less of the world police and becomes the beacon of education, technological and scientific innovation, and human rights. Breaking the billions of dollars down, more young (those on their way to graduation and possibly college) and middle-aged adults can see a pure display of their tax dollars benefiting them directly.


Many children in the United States have no health insurance. The money spent on the Iraq War translates to $1607/child for one year; the total number of children that money could insure is 282,505,000.5

$20,627/student for 4 years at a public university (in-state tuition) in scholarships given to 22,871,100 students across the country.5 American middle and lower classes no longer has to take out credit cards and tremendous amounts of student loan, further incurring heavy debt. The more cash Americans have, the more likely they are to reinvest in the economy. Black Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year), following Thanksgiving, is a prime example of how much Americans can spend.

8,176,075 teachers with an average salary of $57,700 for one year could be employed in schools across the country with what is being spent on the Iraq War.5 Smaller classes, engaging students in a constructive manner, internships and job placement during and after school, all of these are just some things that a larger workforce of teachers could provide. The National Institute for Literacy published a recent report, “The State of Literacy in America.” The report states that out of 191 million adults in the US, as many as 44 million cannot read a newspaper or fill out a job application. Another 50 million more cannot read or comprehend above and 8th grade level. A more educated population translates to adults becoming more involved with one another, fostering new ideas and becoming active participants in society and its operations. A well-informed and educated society is better poised to influence the policies that guide it, both domestically and overseas.

Education and ideologies are the most paramount weapons in the Iraq War and ultimately the War on Terror. Terrorists are breeding their doctrine of hate and revolution against the United States and the West through education and a fundamentalist ideology. All of this is done in some sort of learning environment. The American response should be to look at the past, garner a better understanding of an evolving culture [Islam], and seek to collaborate rather than engage that culture.

Money spent on the Iraq War is better spent on Americans through education and healthcare than procuring defense contracts, future oil assets, and the disruption of entire cultures and religions. Develop assets at home instead of abroad and reinvest in a new American Dream – give Americans the tools to raise the lowest denominator and build a shining beacon of learning, peace, and prosperity.




1 Congressional Budget Office. 2007.

2 http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/10/iraqi-prosecutor-defends-death-sentence.php. Oct. 27. 2007.

3 alternet.org/story/62728/

4 www.globalsecurity.org

5 www.nationalpriorities.org