$2,000,000,000,000

I recently happened upon a website named Axis of Justice. It was created by Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Serj Tankian (S.O.A.D).

Their mission statement:

Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello of Audioslave and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. We aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice.

In browsing the site, I came upon a link to an article in The Toronto Sun from late January.
Aside from the diplomatic costs of the past five years, here's an idea of the monetary costs.


How the Iraq war's $2 trillion cost to U.S. could have been spent.

January 21, 2008

Caig and Marc Kielburger

In war, things are rarely what they seem.

Back in 2003, in the days leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon adamantly insisted that the war would be a relatively cheap one. Roughly $50 billion is all it would take to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, it said.

We now know this turned out to be the first of many miscalculations. Approaching its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers nearly $500 billion, according to the non-partisan U.S.-based research group National Priorities Project. That number is growing every day.

But it's still not even close to the true cost of the war. As the invasion's price tag balloons, economists and analysts are examining the entire financial burden of the Iraq campaign, including indirect expenses that Americans will be paying long after the troops come home. What they've come up with is staggering. Calculations by Harvard's Linda Bilmes and Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz remain most prominent. They determined that, once you factor in things like medical costs for injured troops, higher oil prices and replenishing the military, the war will cost America upwards of $2 trillion. That doesn't include any of the costs incurred by Iraq, or America's coalition partners.

"Would the American people have had a different attitude toward going to war had they known the total cost?" Bilmes and Stiglitz ask in their report. "We might have conducted the war in a manner different from the way we did."

It's hard to comprehend just how much money $2 trillion is. Even Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, would marvel at this amount. But, once you begin to look at what that money could buy, the worldwide impact of fighting this largely unpopular war becomes clear.

Consider that, according to sources like Columbia's Jeffrey Sachs, the Worldwatch Institute, and the United Nations, with that same money the world could:

Eliminate extreme poverty around the world (cost $135 billion in the first year, rising to $195 billion by 2015.)

Achieve universal literacy (cost $5 billion a year.)

Immunize every child in the world against deadly diseases (cost $1.3 billion a year.)
Ensure developing countries have enough money to fight the AIDS epidemic (cost $15 billion per year.)

In other words, for a cost of $156.3 billion this year alone – less than a tenth of the total Iraq war budget – we could lift entire countries out of poverty, teach every person in the world to read and write, significantly reduce child mortality, while making huge leaps in the battle against AIDS, saving millions of lives.

Then the remaining money could be put toward the $40 billion to $60 billion annually that the World Bank says is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, established by world leaders in 2000, to tackle everything from gender inequality to environmental sustainability.
The implications of this cannot be underestimated. It means that a better and more just world is far from within reach, if we are willing to shift our priorities.

If America and other nations were to spend as much on peace as they do on war, that would help root out the poverty, hopelessness and anti-Western sentiment that can fuel terrorism – exactly what the Iraq war was supposed to do.

So as candidates spend much of this year vying to be the next U.S. president, what better way to repair its image abroad, tarnished by years of war, than by becoming a leader in global development? It may be too late to turn back the clock to the past and rethink going to war, but it's not too late for the U.S. and other developed countries to invest in the future.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are children's rights activists and co-founded Free The Children, which is active in the developing world. Online: Craig and Marc Kielburger discuss global issues every Monday in the World & Comment section. Take part in the discussion online at thestar.com/globalvoices.

This ends my politcal commentary.

The Little Things

You look in the mirror
At lines that were not there yesterday
And find a couple more hairs turned grey
With a nervous glance at me
You wonder if
I notice "Little Things"

Later, as I lay beside you
And sleep has closed your eyes
I think of the way you stroked my hair
And how, before you hung my jacket
You held it close to you

I reach out and take your hand
And with all the Love the world has ever known
I bring it to my lips
For yes
I notice "Little Things" - Javan

I woke up this morning - my back hurting from a long day previous - in no mood to repeat the inevitable. My alarm spoke of my fate. I thought of... no time breakfast... long drive... frozen car... cranky old men... a world without patience. Then I turned to my soul mate... sleeping so peacefully... with our dog curled up beside her. In an instant, she reminded me of the "little things".

It's the little things that are important.

Remember that today... and every day.

Buffalo Dies?

We all can assume J.P. Losman's days in Buffalo are over. He has said that he prefers to be traded and his house on Oakland Place is for sale as of December.

The question that remains is will the organization he founded, Buffalo Lives, survive?

Losman's attempt to help beautify Buffalo "one street at a time" conducted a downtown clean up event in September but has been silent since then. We'll credit the lack of action to football season and the Buffalo winter.





What will happen when the snow melts? Is there anyone in place to continue the effort? Will another sports figure step up to the plate? Let's hope so. It's a good idea that has the potential to go a long way.

It could, however, be Losman's final incomplete pass in Buffalo.

Loaning Buffalo

I guess it's only a matter of time before the Sabres start playing games in Hamilton.



For that matter, let's throw a few Albany's way.



What happened to the game in Rochester?

All of these games will be necessary to sustain the longer term viability of the Sabres in Western New York. All of the rocks have been overturned.

If only potato bugs were the answer.

#3

The third item on my Buffalo Wishlist...

A downtown indoor public ice rink.

Photos: The Depot Ice Rink, Downtown Minneapolis

Take everything from the Amherst Pepsi Center and bring it downtown.

Scale it down.

Since it was built, the Pepsi Center has struggled to survive financially. The reason is not because it isn't used, but rather the cost involved in simply maintaining the massive facility.

So let's put in one full size rink for hockey, instead of four, and maybe two smaller ones for open skates and other events.

Build it with the help of the Buffalo Sabres

When the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes, they helped build the
Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. It gave them a place to practice and also provided the community with a smaller venue to discover and learn about hockey.

A downtown ice rink would give the Sabres more practice flexibility when HSBC is busy hosting other events. It would also give them a more intimate environment to host charity events. The Pepsi Center can live without them.

Throw in a satellite Sabres store and pro shop. Maybe a nice upscale restaurant and sports theatre. Round it out with a Sabres Hockey Museum.

Introduce hockey to the Buffalo Public Schools

It really is a shame that an area so passionate about hockey has so few athletic programs to support it. What's worse is the fact that most parents are forced to shuttle their kids out to Amherst in order to participate in it. As far as the city goes, well there aren't many options. I am willing to bet there are plenty of youth in Buffalo that would love to play hockey if given the opportunity.

Let's give them the opportunity.

Designate Saturdays as Hockey Day in Buffalo

Organize weekend tournaments, both youth and adult. Establish leagues and crown champions. Encourage sponsership from local businesses and well as community organizations.

How about a Gus Macker on ice? The Rob Ray Hockey Derby?

Hockeytown?

If Buffalo wants to claim that title, we need to prove we deserve it!