From Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan’s weekly email blast comes this factoid:

Taxpayers in Johnson County, Iowa will pay $191.3 million for total Iraq war spending approved to date.
For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

• 57,241 People with Health Care for One Year OR
• 215,208 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR
• 4,572 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
• 31,176 Scholarships for University Students for One Year or
• 2,380 Affordable Housing Units OR
• 4,282 Elementary School Teachers for One Year.

That is correct – those figures are the cost for Johnson County alone!
(Source: Costofwar.com)

I’m sure there’s play either way in those numbers, but as a tool of perspective I think it says volumes.