Uh... I think you are still underestimating the Vietnam costs Mr. Radd:
From 1959 to 1975 the US alone had nearly 9 million troops and civies run through the war. Of those nearly 60,000 died, over 300,000 were wounded and nearly 2000 were MIA.
en.wikipedia.org
I haven't checked but I assume that the current war has cost close to 6,000 KIA, 30,000 WIA, and maybe 5 MIA to date?
Since neither your current Trillion dollar figure, nor your $600 - 700 Billion number for the Vietnam war includes either the veteran benefits paid, or veteran losses for denied medical benefits or uncompensated costs such as lost earnings and dependant care.
Even if you don't count the multi millions killed in North/South Vietnam and Cambodia, the 5,000 KIA South Koreans... much less the 100's of millions WIA in those countries and their subsequent real costs... Even if you don't count the riots, deaths and protest costs here and around the world... there is no way in hades you can accurately claim that Vietnam's still ongoing costs haven't exceeded a Trillion in today's 0.50 dollars.
They may have been a lot cheaper bodies run through that war crime's grinder over 14 years, but there were a hell of a lot more of them than you'll ever get to ship out for this Mid East fiasco.
It "boggles" my mind that apparently... after 40,000 years... we still don't have a means for calculating the cost of war vs the benefit of life. Maybe people should limit the comparisons to the relative "appropriated" dollars if they want to be "boggled" at the costs of the current stupidity. <vLg>
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