Rep. John Murtha, the conservative Democrat, former Marine, and close ally of the military from Western Pennsylvania who has been calling for many months for a strategic redeployment of troops from Iraq, sent a letter to his fellow House Dems, outlining the true cost of this horrible war:

Dear Democratic Colleague,

We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq. That equates to 2 billion dollars a week, or 267 million dollars a day, or 11 million dollars AN HOUR.

Attached are some comparisons between what we are spending in Iraq as we “stay the course” indefinitely and what those funds could be used for instead.

Some highlights:

• $1.5 billion/year = 5 days in Iraq
  Radiation detectors needed at all US ports (rejected due to cost)
• $700 million/year = 2 days in Iraq
  100% screening of all air cargo - rejected because of cost (1/4 of domestic shipping and 1/2 of international shipping is done on passenger planes)
• $5 billion/5 years = 2-1/2 weeks in Iraq
  Cut in Medicaid in President’s FY 2007 budget
• $15 billion/yr = 1-1/2 weeks in Iraq
  Provide health insurance to 9 million children with no health insurance
• $3.4 billion/yr = 13 days in Iraq
  Cut in education budget in President’s FY 07 budget from FY 06 funding level (over 40 programs including drug-free schools, federal support for the arts, technology and parent-resource centers
• $300 million = 1 day, 3 hours in Iraq
  President’s cut to EPA budget in FY 2007

Full letter after the jump…

Murtha compares cost of war and domestic expenses

A Report by Congressman John Murtha

(Washington D.C.)- We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq. That equates to $2 billion a week, or $267 million a day, or $11 million an hour.

The following are some comparisons between what we are spending in Iraq as we “stay the course” indefinitely and what those funds could be used for instead.

I’ve been fighting for our military to get out of Iraq because I’m concerned about the loss of our troops and the future of our military, and also because I believe they have accomplished their mission there and the Iraqis must resolve their internal conflict themselves. However, I also wanted to demonstrate what these expenses mean to domestic policy in the United States and give you an idea of just some of the things that what we could accomplish with this amount of money.

NATIONAL SECURITY

$31.7 billion/yr Homeland Security budget FY 07

(4 months in Iraq)

$10 billion (1-time) Equipping commercial airliners with defenses against shoulder-fired

(5 weeks in Iraq) missiles

$8.6 billion/7 years Shortage of international aid needed to rebuild Afghanistan

(one month in Iraq)

$5.2 billion (1-time) Estimated need for capital improvements to secure public transportation

(3 weeks in Iraq) system (trains, subways, buses)

$1.5 billion/year Radiation detectors needed at all US ports (rejected due to cost)

(5 days in Iraq)

$1.4 billion/ year Double the COPS (community police grants) program

(5 days in Iraq)

$800 million/year Public transportation personnel training and technical support

(72 hours in Iraq)

$700 million/year 100% screening of all air cargo - rejected because of

(2 days in Iraq) cost (1/4 of domestic shipping and 1/2 of international shipping is done on passenger planes)

$350 million (1-time) Make emergency radio systems interoperable (5 years after 9/11, this

(1.2 days in Iraq) hasn’t happened yet)

$500 million/year Double the firefighters’ grant program

(2 days in Iraq)

$94 million/year Restore cuts to cities hit on 9/11 in Homeland Security budget

(8-1/2 hours in Iraq)

HEALTH CARE/VETERANS

$36 billion/5 years reduction for Medicare spending in president’s fiscal year 2007 (FY 07)

(4-1/2 months in Iraq) budget

$5 billion/5 years Cut in Medicaid in President’s FY 2007 budget

(2-1/2 weeks in Iraq)

$2.5 billion/5 years VA health care premium increases in this year’s budget. Premiums will

(9 days in Iraq) double or triple and drug co-payments will increase, costing our military

retirees $2.4 billion over 5 years

$100 million Additional funding recommended for mental health research for veterans

(9 hours in Iraq)

$48 million Medical and prosthetic research for veterans

(half a day in Iraq)

$65 million/yr National Institutes of Health research funding cuts in this year’s budget

(6 hours in Iraq) (scientists are leaving the field of health research because funding has been cut so severely)

$15 billion/yr Provide health insurance to 9 million children with no health insurance

(1-1/2 weeks in Iraq)

$118 million/yr The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides

(12 hours in Iraq) nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 elderly people - eliminated in the president’s budget

EDUCATION

$3.4 billion/yr Cut in education budget in president’s FY 07 budget from FY 06 funding

(13 days in Iraq) level (over 40 programs including drug-free schools, federal support for the arts, technology and parent-resource centers.

$664 million/yr Perkins Loan program cut in president’s FY 07 budget (would help

(2-1/2 days in Iraq) 463,000 low-income students attend college)

$99 million/yr Even Start (eliminated in president’s budget)

(9 hours in Iraq)

ENVIRONMENT/INFRASTRUCTURE

Nationally

$300 million President’s cut to Environmental Protection Agency budget in FY 2007

(1 day, 3 hours in Iraq)

$253 billion/30 years Clean up contaminated sites in U.S. (Up to 350,000 contaminated sites

(2 years in Iraq) will require cleanup over the next 30 years according to a report released by the EPA.)

$9.11 billion National Park Service maintenance backlog

(1 month, 10 days in Iraq)

$6 billion Forest Service backlog

(3 weeks in Iraq)

$2 billion Fish and Wildlife Service backlog

(2 weeks in Iraq)

$47.2 billion/yr Miscellaneous user fees throughout government imposed on taxpayers by

(6 months in Iraq) president’s budget

$1.7 billion/yr Grants to states cut in 2007 budget

(1 week in Iraq)

Pennsylvania

$15 billion Fixing Pennsylvania’s acid mine drainage sites

(2 months in Iraq)

$8 billion Pennsylvania’s wastewater infrastructure needs

(1 month in Iraq)

$642 million Rehabilitation cost for Pennsylvania’s most critical dams

(2 days in Iraq)

$2.3 billion Pennsylvania’s maintenance backlog for roads

(8 days in Iraq)

$8 billion Pennsylvania’s maintenance backlog for bridges

(1 month in Iraq)

$5.26 billion Pennsylvania’s drinking water infrastructure needs

(2-1/2 weeks in Iraq)

Southwestern Pennsylvania

$10 billion Repair southwestern Pennsylvania’s existing sewer systems to reduce

(5 weeks in Iraq) overflows and back-ups, bring clean water and effective wastewater treatment to areas that lack

them, and install water and sewer infrastructure at targeted development sites