06) TRILLIONS AND COUNTING

People's Voice Editorial

     Amidst all the TV specials and acres of newspaper pages commemorating "the day that changed everything," many terrible questions were rarely asked. Most important: what has been the human, economic, and social cost of the imperialist world's response to the events of September 11, 2001? And what has the world gained from this tragic expenditure of lives and resources?

     Those in power tell us that such costs should not even be considered, since "any price" must be paid to protect our alleged "freedom and security." But Canadians and people in every country need to have the full picture.

     For example, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the U.S. Treasury may ultimately cost $4 trillion (see http://costsofwar.org) - about $12,000 for every citizen of the United States. At least 224,000 to 258,000 people have died directly from warfare in these countries, including 125,000 civilians in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands more have died from the loss of clean drinking water, healthcare, and nutrition, and another 7.8 million have been displaced by these wars.

     Here in Canada, a recent Rideau Institute report says that Canada will spend $34 billion on "national security" this year alone - about $17 billion more than if budgets had remained at pre‑9/11 levels. Military spending has jumped 90 per cent, passing $21 billion this year. Over the decade since 9/11, Canada has spent an extra $92 billion more on "security".

     Has any of this made people safer and more secure? Or should these vast sums have been invested in housing, clean water, better schools, environmental sustainability, and job creation? To ask the question is to answer. The "war on terror" of the past decade has in fact been a terrorist war against the peoples of the world, spreading death, disease, poverty and fear. It threatens all of us, and it must be ended.

(The above article is from the September 16-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)