Was It Worth It?

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost about 3 trillion dollars when all the costs are included according to the video below. That's $10,000 per American. So for a typical family of 4 that's $40,000. Would I rather live in the supposedly more dangerous world where Saddam Hussein, who had no WMD's, was still alive and where the Taliban was still in power? Or would I rather have $40,000?

Even for the person that thinks these wars were necessary and have produced a lot of good, you still might hesitate at that price tag. Maybe the monetary cost is not worth the reduction in risk that resulted. If you think it is, what amount of money would tip the scales for you against war?

In my view though it's a no brainer. I truly believe the wars have made us less safe. We're creating a whole generation of angry orphans, all to depose a couple of governments that really didn't attack us. So of course I'd prefer a check.