Extravagances of war, at what cost?

If you believe that every military dollar spent is justified, stop reading here. But if there is a scintilla of doubt in your mind, hear me out.

I recently joined hundreds of women from across the nation at a conference in Washington, D.C., to examine our national spending priorities. We looked at funding levels for the Iraq war and how the federal budget allocates tax dollars toward the Pentagon at the expense of citizens in need.

The conference was a project of Women’s Action for New Directions and Women Legislators’ Lobby, or WiLL a national nonpartisan network of women working together to influence federal policy and budget priorities. We discussed how the current level of spending for the war and the Pentagon budget combined are unsustainable and pledged to work for change.

Many of us were surprised to learn that the Pentagon’s defense budget does not fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It’s an entirely separate spending machine that uses billions of our tax dollars to pay for outmoded weapons systems that were originally intended to fight the Cold War and that do nothing to make our country safer. We strongly oppose such waste of taxpayer dollars.

WiLL and WAND are not alone in advocating for cuts in spending on costly weapons that have outlived their purpose. Another group, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, shares our concerns. Dr. Lawrence Korb, a BLSP member and former assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan administration, has written a comprehensive analysis of Pentagon spending, pinpointing wasteful items that can be eliminated without compromising national security. The report proposes allocating the savings realized from these cuts to schools, health care and other priorities.

Beyond the burden of Pentagon extravagance, there is the ongoing cost of war. Our president speaks in lofty terms of freedom and democracy for folks in faraway places – but at what price? To date, the federal government has spent $460 billion of our dollars on bombs, guns and private contractors – and it’s not done yet. The fiscal year 2008 supplemental budget request to Congress contains $155 billion more for Iraq-related spending.

The Maine taxpayer share of the war is over $1.2 billion dollars. The cost to my own hometown of Waterville: nearly $11 million.

Of greater significance, however, is the human toll: To date, 3,829 American soldiers are dead and 28,171 wounded. Estimates of Iraqi dead range from tens of thousands to 600,000, and the count grows daily.

While our government focuses on the strategies of war and rebuilding infrastructure in Iraq, our own infrastructure – roads, bridges, tunnels, schools and hospitals – continues to age and crumble. When a decaying bridge fell into the Mississippi River in the middle of rush hour in Minneapolis, it was a harsh reminder of the needs being neglected in our country.

Here at home, MaineCare, the state’s Medicare program, awaits reimbursements; special education programs lack proper funding; mental health providers are experiencing cuts; our university system tuition has increased by 9 percent; and the federal government offers no help.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that “even with an immediate and substantial reduction of troops, American taxpayers will feel the cost of war for another decade.” That’s because the money already allocated for day-to-day expenses does not include such long-term costs as extended medical care, disability compensation and survivor benefits – commitments our nation must honor in full for the sacrifices of our troops.

Today, we are witnesses to dangerous trends in public policy. Our government sees fit to use war as a means to win hearts and minds and military might as a way to maintain our image as a world power. But there is a limit to the number of bombs and missiles we can build to achieve these goals. When we rely solely on weaponry as a way to maintain superiority while ignoring our moral obligation to educate our young, feed our poor, and care for our sick, we lose sight of the ideals that have for so long made America a beacon of hope.

President Dwight Eisenhower said it best: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists and the hopes of its children.”

Rep. Marilyn Canavan (D-Waterville) represents District 76, which includes parts of Waterville and Oakland.