500 billion and STILL counting

and we spent this much because?

and how much more will we spend?

seems our VETERANS can't get proper care but we're STILL tossing billions into this hell (WE created mind you. i'm well aware of that)

how much more are we going to allow them to get away with burning? (the them of course is king george and his court)

Price tag for war in Iraq on track to top $500 billion

By Ron Hutcheson
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The bitter fight over the latest Iraq spending bill has all but obscured a sobering fact: The war will soon cost more than $500 billion.
That's about ten times more than the Bush administration anticipated before the war started four years ago, and no one can predict how high the tab will go. The $124 billion spending bill that President Bush plans to veto this week includes about $78 billion for Iraq, with the rest earmarked for the war in Afghanistan, veterans' health care and other government programs.
Congressional Democrats and Bush agree that they cannot let their dispute over a withdrawal timetable block the latest cash installment for Iraq. Once that political fight is resolved, Congress can focus on the president's request for $116 billion more for the war in the fiscal year that starts on Sept. 1.
The combined spending requests would push the total for Iraq to $564 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
What could that kind of money buy?
A college education - tuition, fees, room and board at a public university - for about half of the nation's 17 million high-school-age teenagers. .............

and of course THIS:

Report: U.S. investment in Iraqi reconstruction at risk

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Poor construction, improper design, substandard materials and lack of maintenance have brought into question the usefulness of seven of eight U.S.-funded Iraq reconstruction projects.
So says an inspector general report that recently examined the eight reconstruction projects.
"If these projects are typical of the quality and effectiveness of operations and maintenance performance on transitioned projects, the value of the U.S. investment in Iraq reconstruction will be at risk," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general, in his report to Congress and the Bush Administration. "Unless corrective action is taken, the useful lives of those projects will be significantly shortened."
In addition, 914 people -- including 224 U.S. citizens -- have died while working on the U.S.-funded projects, the report said.
The U.S. is spending $37 billion on Iraqi reconstruction.
The report said a major problem was the Iraqi government's lack of maintenance plans for the facilities after it has taken over control from the U.S.
For example, just 10 of the 17 electrical generators installed at a cost of almost $12 million at the Baghdad International Airport were operational. There was no plan for their maintenance, including keeping oil levels up, the report said............