Money Spent on Rebuilding Iraq Cost American Taxpayers Billions

US taxpayers are bearing the cost of occupation.

Actually, this has been, as former Secretary of State General Colin Powell is reported to have said in 2002, much further on into the Iraqi fiasco, a "You break it, you bought it" scenario, beginning almost over 20 years ago.

the effect is visible in American economy the deficit is at record level and recovery is slow last quarter GDP grown at the rate of 1.6%

it is about time for the Iraq people to stand on their own feet. Spend their oil profits to complete the projects that the American people paid and that took this wonderful country into the skids. Lets spend the tax money on our own land, help the people in New Orleans, the mid-west for jobs and the real owners of this land the American Indian living on reservations.Our governmnet reps and senators should be ashamed of themselves and stop thinking about their own pockets for the future(both demorcrats and republicans are severly guilty of this)

The money is only lost because the job is not done. Remember the effects of Marshal Aid on the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />US economy? A nation rebuilding is more likely to spend on US goods and improve the US economy than a nation still tearing apart at the seems. People in a war zone do not need dishwashers and station wagons, Coca-Cola and Bubble-gum. But people in a recovering nation, one that has finally reached some semblance of peace, love these little luxuries. The US military were sent into Iraq with the clear objective of toppling a regime. They did that job beautifully. However, the government at the time, who sent them there, failed to think long term, and as a result, the nation was not transformed into the shining example of “Democracy” that was expected. The damage done needs to be addressed; and, as was the case after the Second World War, peace could become very profitable. The people of Iraq cannot offer up money in response to the US led invasion. But had the British and American governments who planned said invasion thought things through to begin with, the cost would have been lower long term, and there would be a potential new trading partner in the Middle East, which could benefit the economies of all nations involved. If the Iraqi infrastructure were rebuilt, with an army and police force people could trust, peace would return, and they would be more willing to buy the products that have traditionally helped the American economy rebound. If Iraq fails to rebuild, however, the effects will be damaging to more than the US economy....

  How is it that some people, that begrudge their fellow American citizens health care, don't seem to have a problem spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in Iraq, building hospitals, schools, roads, bridges,sewage treatment plants, communication facilities, and stimulating the economy????                      I live in Tennessee where the fire department in a rural community, watched a familys' house burn to the ground, rather than put it out because a 75 dollar fee hadn't been paid in advance.   Where are the Christian values ?????? 

My mistake, we've only spent a measly 44 billion !! Sorry!

My mistake, we've only spent a measly 44 billion !! Sorry!