February 2003

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Some Tough Questions for Americans

Flier available in bulk for organizers from AFSC Cambridge Office, 617/661-6130. AFSC intern Adam Miles produced this flier with input from AFSC Regional Office staff. Numbers and statistics were taken from the US Department of Defense, the Executive Office of Management and Budget, and the National Priories Project (www.nationalpriorities.org).

Is Saddam Hussein a tyrant?
Undoubtedly.

Are there domestic concerns that pose more of a security threat to us than Saddam does?
We think so.

Do these problems need to be addressed before we go to war?
The choice is yours. In a democracy you decide what your priorities are. You decide how you want your tax dollars spent. And you decide whether or not to resist war in Iraq.

Here are some facts to help you decide

In September 2002, White House economist Lawrence Lindsey predicted that the initial phase of war in Iraq could cost as much as $100,000,000,000. That's $100 BILLION! A four-year occupation of the country following the invasion would raise the price tag to as much as $250 billion! The last Gulf War in 1990-1991 was largely financed by US allies. This time, important financial contributors to the first Gulf War, including Saudi Arabia and Germany are strongly opposed to an invasion of Iraq. That means that the vast majority of the war's costs will come directly from the pockets of US tax-payers for many years to come. New Englanders alone will account for nearly $4 billion of the initial war cost.

What else could your tax dollars buy?
Each year, over 9 million uninsured children in the United States are deprived of access to quality health care, caring doctors, and effective medicine when they are sick. The $100 billion to be spent on invasion of Iraq would pay for the health care for each of these children for the next five years.

War Is Not Healthy, 1968, Lorraine Schneider © Another Mother For Peace, at the Center for Political Graphics (see caption p. 11)

Schools across the country are poorly financed, overcrowded, and in decay. $100 billion would triple what the federal government spends on elementary and secondary education, providing more than enough money to develop new educational programs, construct new schools and repair those in need of renovation.
More than 7 million children go home alone after school everyday to an unsupervised home. A federal investment of $250 billion (the amount our government could spend on invasion and occupation of Iraq over the next four years) could provide these children with quality after-school care, train and finance 100,000 new teachers to assist in their education, and pay for the entirety of their college tuition, room and board! Using our tax dollars this way, instead of for war, would make an enormous contribution to our collective security.
1.8 million families nationwide are in desperate need of affordable housing, unable to afford a livable apartment or home. At a recent US Conference of Mayors, civic leaders announced a growing need for federal housing assistance. Meanwhile, during a typical 30-day period in November/December 2002, the federal government awarded $257 million a day in military contracts (a total of $7.7 billion over 30 days). Were this money used for the construction of housing communities instead of armaments, the affordable housing crisis for each of these 1.8 million families would largely disappear in only 2.5 years.

How else would the war affect Americans?
Do you drive a car?

War with Iraq will very likely destabilize overseas markets, including the oil industry. Some estimates predict the price of gasoline soaring to as much as $3 per gallon: an annual increase of nearly $700 in gasoline costs if you fill up your tank just 30 times a year!

Do you own stock?

Since the President and his staff began "selling" the war with Iraq in August 2002, stock prices have dropped 20% and will likely fall even further as the first missiles begin to explode over Baghdad.

Do you have children? or pay taxes?

The Bush Administration's already extraordinary increases in military spending have turned recent budget surpluses into an estimated $80 billion deficit for 2003. Despite the threat of war, President Bush remains committed to an economic program that will reward the nation's wealthiest 1% with record tax relief, leaving the rest of the country with a substantial war debt, an increasing national deficit, and few resources for economic revitalization and new jobs, and no promise of social security or federal pensions for today's children.

Can you survive another prolonged recession in the American economy?

The first Gulf War caused a recession that lasted for several years. Most economists predict a similar American recession following a new war with Iraq, a decrease in the Gross Domestic Product anywhere from 2-5%, or $200-500 billion leaking out of the American economy.

Consider this:
The amount of money being invested into the F-22 fighter Raptor aircraft program ($5.25 billion) would pay for 70,000 children's yearly health and after school care, their teacher's salaries (at a ratio of one teacher for each child), and all of their college degrees. The F-22 is just one of four Pentagon fighter aircraft programs now being paid for with your tax dollars.

Consider this:
US mayors have asked the federal government for a 19% increase in funding for food assistance, as increasing numbers of people face unemployment and homelessness. At roughly $8 billion, this is equal to the amount the government will be spending this year for Longbow Apache attack helicopters and for so-called missile defenses that don't work. The Apache is one of six helicopter programs being funded by the Pentagon. Estimates of the amount to be squandered on missile defenses run to more than $100 billion--a welfare program for the Military-Industrial-Complex.

Bringing it home
"The continued shifting of resources out of our communities and into war and greater wealth for the few affects us in many unpredictable ways. The other day a woman stopped into Arise for advice. She's a single mother of five kids (husband dead), on welfare and desperately poor. Her 12-yr-old son has emotional problems and, with the Department of Social Services' cooperation, she had placed her son in a residential program in Springfield. She was visiting him every day and felt his progress was good. On her last visit, though, she was taken aside by a DSS worker who told her that in order for her son to be able to stay in the program, she would have to give over legal custody of her son to DSS. Budget cuts had made it impossible for DSS to provide residential services for any but the children over which they actually had legal custody."

--Michaelann Bewsee, Arise for Social Justice, Springfield, MA

Bringing it home
"Summer is 6 years old. She lives with her mom, Becky, in a motel in a small town in Southern NH because Becky can't find an apartment she can afford. She works full time, but that isn't enough to afford even a one bedroom apartment in that area. She is on a waiting list for a Section 8 voucher, but that could take a couple of years. They are being housed in a motel because there are no sheltesr or transitional housing programs in the area. Becky needs to be near her work and doesn't want her daughter to have to change schools after all the changes they have been through in the last few months. New Hampshire needs about 5300 more vacant rental housing units to meet the national rental vacancy rate of 6.8% (which is a healthy vacancy rate. NH is below 2%.) It also needs more vouchers, yet the current federal proposal will cut about 350 vouchers. 'There just isn't money for housing right now,' say political leaders. Yet the 10% increase in military spending last year was significantly more than the entire HUD budget for the year. There is money. It is a question of priorities."

--Martha Yager, Housing Project Coordinator, AFSC NH

In September 2002, White House economist Lawrence Lindsey predicted that the initial phase of war in Iraq could cost as much as $100,000,000,000. That's $100 BILLION! A four-year occupation of the country following the invasion would raise the price tag to as much as $250 billion! The last Gulf War

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