Sixteen years have passed since the invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003. The case for war was hyped up on faulty claims allegedly supported by the NIE report, as I recently covered in a 
The Bush administration sold us on lies about Saddam's ties to al Qaeda, having WMDs, and being involved in the anthrax attacks that took place after 9/11. It was a huge deception that launched the new era of regime change in the Middle East. As a result, millions of lives have been directly affected, with an estimated 500,000 directly killed in the conflicts since, and likely over 1,000,000 who have died indirectly from causes such as malnutrition, environmental degradation, and deteriorated infrastructure.
Afghanistan was for "justice" or "revenge" for 9/11, and was widely supported and the first step to the global war on terror. Iraq was the spearhead that launched the global war on terror, using any made-up reason to go invade other countries to remake the Middle East. The war is still ongoing in Iraq.
Lasting 16 years, this war is the longest in American history. It's cost is taking a tole in many areas, be it with lives or economics. The war on terror is estimated to have cost about $6 trillion so far since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, according to figures from the Cost of War project. That's a huge number, spent on waging war in other lands, started by U.S. politicians.
According to the the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, their cost of war is at over $4 trillion, which amounts to a cost to Americans $32 millions dollars per hour to pay for this military-industrial beast. You can see their counter continually rise:
That's $4,000,000,000,000 divided by the amount of hours since the war started in 2001. In other terms, that's about $24,000 per American since the wars started in 2001.
But really, the amount is larger when you consider that the Pentgon's [audit](https://steemit.com/pentagon/@krnel/the-cover-up-and-fraud-of-the-untraceable-usd21-trillion-missing-from-the-pentagon of last year revealed a whopping cover up and fraud of "misplacing" $21 trillion since 1998.
When the audit was done, the Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan causally said:
"We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it."
He was also very proud that an audit even took place, adding:
"It was an audit on a $2.7 trillion dollar organization, so the fact that we did the audit is substantial."
The $4 and $6 trillion are going by accessible numbers. This audit shows at least a 3 fold increase in the amount of money the military sector of the U.S. has had and can't account for. So really, there is close to $100,000,000 ($100 million) in costs to Americans every hour.
The wars continue to spread, bring chaos and destruction to lands that Americans were told would be brought "freedom". What a pipe dream. They didn't have to endure the wars. Not only do the wars bring chaos, but the aftermath is just as chaotic and devastating for the local populations. War lords rise to power and disorder increases compared to when the "evil" leaders/rulers where in charge prior to being taken out by a U.S.-led war machine.
The network of anti-terror operations is spreading beyond the Middle East, with the U.S. waging war in 80 countries across the planet. The more the war empire spreads and invades other land, the more they militarize those people who are being invaded and occupied, turning them into opposers of the invasions, which gets framed as "terrorists". Another country invades you country, and you fight against them, and are called a terrorist.
What a twisted world we live in where the powerful dictate themselves as the "good saviors", with any resistance seen as "evil". Sounds like a movie, like Star Wars. The Empire is good, and the rebels are evil... Instead of "freedom", the American Empire is the aggressor, spreading more oppression, destruction and chaos.
References:
- We Have Spent $32 Million Per Hour on War Since 2001
- A New Era of Regime Change for a New American Century, Spearheaded with Iraq (Deep Dives 12)
- The Fraud and Cover-Up of the Untraceable $21 Trillion 'Missing' from the Pentagon
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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