re: Trillion
The money being spent on the Iraq War is largely being spent in the U.S.
Since I was old enough to pay attention, I've constantly heard how we could take the money "saved" from whatever program the speaker thought was an utter waste, and spend it "wisely" on whatever program the speaker was pushing.
Unfortunately, in real life, industries and employees aren't that flexible. I can't take an aerospace company building jet fighters and put them to work on developing oil out of switchgrass.
We enjoyed the benefits of "the peace dividend" through the 90s, including surpluses. Unfortunately, the end of the Cold War did not mean the end of conflict.