The Costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are Too High

Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, according to both the Congressional Research Service and the Center for Defense Information, the costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach over $1 trillion by the end of this year. Today we are being asked to approve many billions more in a supplemental war appropriations bill.

There has never been anything conservative about these wars. This is world government at its worst. We have never had any wars in the past with so much waste, fraud, and abuse, and so many billions ripped from the taxpayers by Pentagon contractors. Fiscal conservatives should be the ones most horrified by all this spending.

The worst thing is the loss of young American lives, when Iraqi and Afghani troops should have been doing this fighting. And there's really no telling how much we will have to pay out in future medical and disability costs.

Defense contractors have so many retired admirals and generals to lobby for them that they keep requesting and getting more money. But these wars have gone on far too long already. We should bring our troops and, especially, our rip-off contractors home.

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