Thoughts behind the headlines

'The little girl took two whole breaths and let go of my hand. I said, "She's gone. She's dead." '

In CHICAGO: There were 134 murders from January to April compared to 123 murders in 2007. April was an especially deadly month, with 47 murders compared to 35 last April. Eleven of the murders were classified as two triple homicides and one quintuple homicide, according to a release from police News Affairs. Of the murder total, 51 involved people aged 17 to 25. Nine of the total murders involved those 10 to 16 years old, the release said. In total, violent crimes, which include homicides, criminal sexual assaults, aggravated assaults and robberies, increased 6.1 percent. (cbs2chicago, May 17, 2008).

Cost of Iraq war: Estimates range from Pentagon's $600 Billion + to $4 trillion+ (Estimates of Iraq War Cost Were Not Close to Ballpark).

Couple of ways of looking at this picture:

1. It is extraordinarily sad to see children being shot and killed, in Chicago or anywhere else. Why is it a lot easier for the public (and therefore the elected administration) to send troops and invade a foreign country rather than to use the resources to save lives at home? Where are the "right-to-life' folks who should be pushing for redeployment of resources to prevent these tragedies? Of course, it does not come as a surprise in a land where killing for pleasure (of animals, of all kinds) is held in high regard and a car dealer is offering a free gun with a car purchase.

2. The total amount of U.S. Treasuries held by foreigners (public and private) at the end of March 2008 is $2519.6 billion. This compares to a number of $1140 billion at the end of June 2002. Thus foreigners lent the U.S. government $1379.6 billion since 2002, which is more than sufficient to cover the 'official' expenses of the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The leading foreign owners of U.S. Treasuries are Japan, China, U.K., Oil Exporters, Brazil, Caribbean Banking Centers, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Norway, and Russia (data from the Treasury Department). One can argue that these foreign countries have financed the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, essentially paying a tariff to the United States for serving as the world's police force. Thus the rest of the world also shares a responsibility in the death and destruction from these wars. Of course, one should, but often does not, include the opportunity costs (or benefits) in terms of lives that could have been saved had the resources been directed differently, towards local problems.