http://costofwar.com/
That only reflects the dollars, not all of the lives. That's the real cost of war...
The lives lost are priceless!
For ALL the people that want America to be involved in combat, I say, you have no right to expect others to put themselves in harms way for you unless...
You have served in combat previously.
You are willing an able to go too.
I've seen WAY too many harp on the positives of going over somewhere and kicking someone's arse...while they sit comfortably in their recliners!
Then, to confound things further, DADT is stumbling...hell, you'd think with so many gay/lesbian haters out there, they'd jump at the chance to knock some of us off. ::)
I'll say this, though: I wish people would really think about war hitting our shores. When I read people (not you, Jam, just in general) saying stuff like, "why do we have to go over there, why can't we carry out a war from here?", it makes my skin crawl. Really? Did everyone find the WTC's collapse and thousands of civilian lives lost attractive? Have any of these people gone to Germany and England and France and Italy and Poland to ask any of those people how they felt about watching their cities burn to the ground and disintegrate before their eyes? Because that's what bringing a war to our shores would produce...untold infrastructure devastation, countless civilian lives lost (collateral damage). Nope, it's cheaper to go "over there". THINK!!!!
If we would end our addiction to their oil we wouldn't have to go anywhere.
But, we'll pry the keys to their petroleum-operated toys out of their cold, dead hands.
You're right about that, my dear. OTOH, religious wars would then take front and center. ::)