7 Astounding Facts About the Insane Cost of War

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http://www.alternet.org/economy/7-astounding-facts-about-insane-cost-war



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1. Most expensive war ever fought: World War II (1941-1945).

Coming in at somewhere between $4 and $5 trillion, the second World War tops every other war ever fought in U.S. history for its incredible expense. (It also wins the prize for number of humans slaughtered and number of nations involved.)

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2. Second most expensive war ever fought: post-9/11 “war on terror.”

They told us invading Iraq would be short and cheap. That’s not exactly what happened. The U.S. has poured more money (including the ongoing cost of medical treatment) into the controversial “war on terror” than any other conflict except WWII. By some estimates, the price tag has already reached $4 trillion and may eventually outstrip the cost of the second World War, particularly in the wake of the recent Iraq political crisis and U.S. airstrikes against militants in Iraq.

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3. Most expensive weapon ever built: the F-35.

Costing a jaw-dropping $400 billion, the F-35 fighter jet is the U.S. military's most expensive and highest priority weapon. The aircraft, which has been in development since the 1990s and has hit multiple cost overruns and delays, is meant to service the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines. The U.S. has plans to buy over 2,400 of the jets over the next several decades from manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

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4. Half of what the federal government spent on the Civil War enriched war profiteers.

War. What is it good for? Lining the pockets of war profiteers.

When the Civil War started, a lot of people across the country thought it would not last long. It ended up going on for four years and involved vast numbers of soldiers that had to be fed and outfitted. The U.S. government did not have the money to pay for the war, which cost a billion on food and supplies (a huge sum at the time). So it turned to various finance schemes, including raising taxes, massive bond sales, borrowing, and printing money.