Hawai'i Has Paid $1.5 billion
for the Iraq war

by Keoki Kerr

The human costs of the Iraq War are obvious. Thousands of Iraqis and Americans have died, among them more than 200 troops with Hawai'i ties.
Go to the non-partisan National Priorities Project Web site and you'll see the ominous counter with the war's national price tag to date constantly rising, at $438 billion and counting. The think tank has also calculated the financial cost of the war for each state, based on federal tax data.
The group calculates that taxpayers in Hawai'i County have paid about $145 million of the state's $1.5 billion share of the war cost so far. So what could this money, from Hawai'i taxpayers, have paid for had it not gone to fund the Iraq War? Here are some possibilities:
Roads and land conservation: The County's $145 million share could have been spent on improving roads and preserving beaches and other open spaces from development. The first phase of the 16-mile Saddle Road project, which is costing $59 million, opened in late May. While the road offers commuters the shortest route between the east and west sides of the island, it also has suffered from one of the highest accident rates for roadways of its type in the state.
The improvement project will make the road safer and easier to use by eliminating narrow lanes, limited sight lines and hazards like bad drainage and rough road edges. Hawai'i County's share of the war costs could easily cover the cost of two Saddle Road-type projects, making other dangerous highways safer at a cost of $118 million.
Completing 32 miles of Saddle Road improvements would leave $27 million dollars left over to cover land preservation projects. The estimated purchase price of all the land in Sea Mountain Five's current Punalu'u proposal (including the land mauka of Mamalahoa Highway) is $17 million. The 435 acres at adjacent Kawa Bay would cost an estimated $6 million. The remaining funds would have covered the $4.8 million needed for the curbs and ramps required to make all intersections in downtown Hilo compliant with federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Civic services: Or, that $145 million could have completely funded the county's police, fire, parks and recreation and civil defense departments for 2007-08 (a total of $81 million). The $63 million left over could go to education, youth programs, conservation efforts, homeless services, programs to address domestic violence, provide better health care services-or back into taxpayers' pockets.
What's in it for me?
Prefer to spend the money yourself, rather than let some different government agency do it for you? The Iraq War has cost each Hawai'i taxpayer approximately $1,200 since it began four years ago. Taxpayers could easily use that money to cover their rent, mortgage payment, rising gas or electric bills or donate it to charities.
Want creature comforts? It's also enough money to buy a new Kenmore refrigerator with push-button ice and a water filter system at Sears. Or a Samsung 32-inch color LCD high definition television. If you wanted to spend that $1,200 on a vacation, you could book a 12-day European cruise or a round-trip flight from Honolulu to Buenos Aires.
The county took in nearly $184 million in property tax revenue in the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Instead of paying for the war, Hawai'i Island property owners could have paid just 21 percent of their property tax bills for one year, a substantial savings at a time when assessments have been rising.
"Ridiculous" vs. "our obligation"
"I just think it's ridiculous that we're paying that much money for the war," says Elena Moreno, the wife of an active-duty serviceman who returns to Iraq soon. "I mean if the war was [being fought] for something that we really needed to go there for, then it would be different, but we're not there for the right reasons."
However, Craig Hughes says the high financial cost for Hawai'i is "absolutely" worth it, even though he's had military friends die in Iraq. "I think that's our obligation. I support our commander in chief. And who else is going to do it in the world?" he asks.
Michael Miyahara reflects the "bridge half-built" approach to the conflict: "It may not be a fair war, and a lot of people don't like what's going on, but our troops are there, so I think we should pay it and support the troops."
Congress again reconsidering war funding
In early June, Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) introduced legislation to put an expiration date on the Iraq War authorization approved by Congress in 2002. It's one of roughly 30 proposals floating around the U.S. Capitol focusing on whether the controversial war authorization should remain in effect.
Under a measure co-authored by Abercrombie and Congressman Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who is currently seeking his party's presidential nomination, the original war authorization would expire six months after the bill is enacted, and Congress would have to approve a new authorization to continue the war in Iraq.
"Unlike other proposals, the bill does not criticize the president's handling of the war," Paul says. "It does not cut off funds for the troops, nor set a timetable for our withdrawal."
The two are trying to forge a bipartisan coalition to force another war debate in Congress, giving the president time to try to convince Congress and the American public that the war needs to continue.
"We are joined by a growing group of Republican and Democratic members who remember that the Constitution vests the power to declare war in the Legislative Branch," Abercrombie says. "We all still believe that we live in a democracy-not a kingdom."
Abercrombie's staff provided additional research showing that even a fraction of Hawai'i's $1.5 billion in war costs would fully fund federal programs that benefit Hawai'i's children. The controversial No Child Left Behind program has a $40 million shortfall in Hawai'i, the difference between appropriated funds and money that's authorized to be spent. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act faces a similar Hawai'i shortfall of $22 million.
There is no way to estimate the lost business from deployed military in Hawai'i, as well as their effect on other companies when active-duty troops with part-time jobs suddenly deploy, leaving their employers without staff.
Hidden costs
The National Priorities Project's estimates of the war's costs are probably low. The figures do not include interest, even though the war is being "deficit-financed," meaning taxpayers will have to make additional interest payments on the national debt.
The numbers contain military and non-military spending, like the hugely expensive reconstruction process. While the troops' regular pay is not incorporated in these estimates, combat pay has been added to the war cost tally.
But potential future costs like medical care for active-duty military and veterans wounded in the war are not included.
Mental health and other expenses won't be known for years. For instance, a National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder study found 18 percent of veterans returning from Iraq suffered from PTSD. But those numbers are sure to rise in the years to come, as more cases are eventually diagnosed.
On June 18, top Bush administration officials said the federal government must quickly revamp the nation's system for identifying and treating military personnel with mental illness. Those pronouncements came after the Washington Post published two days of stories detailing the bureaucratic and health difficulties of troops returning home with PTSD.
The Army is hiring an additional 200 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers to help soldiers with mental-health problems, according to Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock, the acting surgeon general of the Army. In July, the Army will launch an educational program on stress for all soldiers and commanders.
Sen. Dan Akaka (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, says his committee will consider legislation to extend automatic health-care coverage for combat veterans to five years, up from two, so they can receive treatment for mental illnesses that can take years to surface.
All of these efforts will cost federal taxpayers even more, for a war that's already costing $2 billion a month.
Reach Keoki Kerr at kkerr@hawaii.rr.com

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