Excerpt:
President Obama is considering several options for Afghanistan, all of which involve an escalation of the conflict, increasing troop levels and increasing spending. The only question is how many more troops will be sent.
That option most likely would call for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops. Another 7,000 troops would man and support a new division headquarters in Kandahar, and some 4,000 additional U.S. trainers are likely to be sent as well, the officials said. The first additional combat brigade probably would arrive in Afghanistan next March, the officials said, with the other three following at roughly three-month intervals, meaning that all the additional U.S. troops probably would not be deployed until the end of next year.
Among the cost estimates the Pentagon is considering is $1 trillion over 10 years and some administration officials privately concur that the war could cost $700 billion to $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The request ultimately would depend on the number of additional troops President Obama sends to Afghanistan.
With the uproar over government spending with the proposed $90 billion per year health care bill, it is amazing that there is little talk about war spending. With the $578.6 billion spent in 2009 on the military and the wars, every American could have free health care and there would be enough left over to pay for a college education for every graduating high school senior. It may, indeed, be time to put government spending in perspective.