Fast Fact

Alexander Sewell's picture

CAF STAFF

Costs of Worn-out Iraq Equipment High

Submitted by Alexander Sewell
October 2nd, 2008

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that it will take years and cost about $200 billion to repair or replace equipment that was worn out or broken in the Iraq war.

Source
GAO
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Armand Biroonak's picture

CAF STAFF

Pentagon Budget Consumes More than Half of Spending

Submitted by Armand Biroonak
September 29th, 2008

The Pentagon’s budget accounts for more than half of all “discretionary spending”— that is, half of everything the federal government spends after paying for entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, and interest on the national debt. .

Source
Center for Arms Control
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Armand Biroonak's picture

CAF STAFF

Defense Budget is Over $1 Trillion a Year

Submitted by Armand Biroonak
September 29th, 2008

At $700 billion, the defense budget is about equal to the combined military spending of the rest of the world. Add in the cost of caring for our veterans, arms aid in the State Department budget, homeland security measures, and more, and actual spending climbs to over $1 trillion a year.

Source
Center for Arms Control
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Alexander Sewell's picture

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Suicide Bombings Increase Since War on Terror

Submitted by Alexander Sewell
September 25th, 2008

Worldwide, suicide bombings have increased greatly since 2001, and 2007 was the worst year for such bombings in more than a quarter-century. Over half of all suicide bombings last year took place in U.S.-occupied Afghanistan and Iraq.

Source
Washington Post
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Alexander Sewell's picture

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Military Officers Believe Military Has Been Diminished By Iraq War

Submitted by Alexander Sewell
September 25th, 2008

A poll of 3,400 military officers found that 60 percent say the U.S. military is weaker today than it was five years ago, and nearly 90 percent say the Iraq war has “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin.”

Source
Foreign Policy
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Alexander Sewell's picture

CAF STAFF

Private Corporations Control Our Nation's War Endeavors

Submitted by Alexander Sewell
September 25th, 2008

Seventy percent of the intelligence budget now goes to contractors. Private corporate interests control our nation’s most sensitive information and help direct our most critical foreign policy decisions.

Source
[CBS News]

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Alexander Sewell's picture

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Conservatives Kill Renewable Energy Bill

Submitted by Alexander Sewell
September 25th, 2008

Conservatives killed 2007 legislation that would have required 15 percent of our electricity to come from renewable sources and they continue to block the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008.

Source
Washington Post
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Armand Biroonak's picture

CAF STAFF

Iraq War Costs $12 Billion a Month

Submitted by Armand Biroonak
July 26th, 2008

The Iraq War costs more than $12 billion per month and $416 million per day. These figures include neither operations in Afghanistan nor anti-terrorism programs elsewhere around the world nor the costs of caring for the wounded or replenishing our arsenals.

Source
Congressional Research Service
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Armand Biroonak's picture

CAF STAFF

Iraq War Could Have Paid For...

Submitted by Armand Biroonak
July 26th, 2008

With $656 billion—the direct cost of the war in Iraq since 2003—we could have:

  • Brought to “good condition” all of America’s deteriorating public structures—bridges and roads, airports and railroads, schools and parks, water and sewer systems; or
  • Paid for a college education for every high school graduate over the next decade; or
  • Eliminated hunger worldwide.
Source
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
  • U.S. Department of Education
  • Reuters
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    Robert Dorst2's picture

    Iran starts installing 6000 new centrifuges

    Submitted by Robert Dorst2 (not verified)
    April 10th, 2008

    Iran has started installing “6000 new centrifuges” at the Natanz enrichment plant, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad announced after visiting the nuclear enrichment facility on Tuesday.... In his address at the meeting, the president said the testing of the new advanced centrifuges, which can enrich uranium five times faster than the current machines, will be finished in the next three months.

    Source
    "Iran starts installing 6000 new centrifuges" 9 April 2008. Tehran Times. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=165793
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