The war in Iraq which was authorized was supposed to cost about $60 billion and take 6 months. Rumsfeld had told the commanders over there to plan on having only 30,000 troops in-country by the end of September, 2003.

$60 billion, 6 months. Very few, if any, casualties.

The cost will now run to about $2 trillion, at least when the next administration allots money to take care of veterans. That is 3333 times the amount Bush told the American people and Congress it would cost.

The length is unknown. It's still running, 5 1/2 years later, no end in sight. That is 11 times the figure the Bush Administration told Congress it would take. And the time is still running.

The casualties, 4,200 American dead, 24,000 wounded. That is infinitely more than the none Bush promised Pat Robertson, but certainly more than if the war took 6 months.

It's a bit like asking a spouse, the spouse which is working, if you can buy a beater car to leave at the beach cabin. Gonna cost maybe $2,000. Final liability for that car?

$6,666,666. A bit more than what was told to that wage earner.

Oh, yes. You can pick it up in a couple of years. Have patience.

Nope. Nobody voted for this war. Not Congress, not the American people, and certainly not the Iraqis, who recognize a brutal occupation when they see one. (See "Shock and Awe", Abu Ghraib, various desert camps, civilian deaths, etc.)

Arf