(DENVER)– This week marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Despite his double talk on the campaign trail, John McCain has marched in lockstep with President Bush every step of the way, echoing the misleading rhetoric used to make the case for war, parroting the president’s rosy rhetoric even as Iraq was descending into civil war, and now arguing that American troops could be in Iraq for 100 years.

While John McCain has promised four more years of President Bush’s failed policies, Coloradans are feeling the cost of the war here at home—a war that has made us less safe while diverting critical resources from Colorado’s priorities. [Wall Street Journal, 3/13/08] Since the beginning of the war, almost 4,000 brave men and women in uniform have lost their lives, including 54 from Colorado. Since September 2001, nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, including 1,577 members of the Army Guard and 1,038 Air National Guard members from Colorado, making it more difficult for Colorado to respond to natural disasters and crises in the state. [icasualties.org; Department of Defense, 1/31/08]

And as the economy continues to slide into what Alan Greenspan said could be the worst slow-down since World War II, John McCain’s endless war in Iraq is draining economic resources that would help Colorado's working families. A recent study shows the Iraq war is now costing U.S. taxpayers $12 billion dollars a month—that means that for the cost of less than a week in Iraq, we could hire 51,000 police officers to make America safer; for four months in Iraq, we could get low-income kids health care for five years; and for just three weeks in Iraq, we could enroll 1.4 million kids in Head Start and get them the education they need. But instead of siding with Colorado’s families, John McCain is choosing to support a war without an end in Iraq. [AP, 3/10/08; Speaker Pelosi Fact Sheet, 8/29/07 (see below)]

"John McCain is out of step with Colorado values," said Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak. "While Coloradans want American troops withdrawn from Iraq, McCain wants us there for 100 years even though everyone agrees the Iraqis have failed to make the political progress the surge was supposed to make possible. And though Coloradans want more police officers on their streets and health care for their kids, McCain wants a war that will break the bank and make our country less safe. That’s not the kind of leadership Colorado’s families want, and that’s why voters in Colorado will reject John McCain’s promise of a third Bush term in November.”

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FACT SHEETS FROM SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI’S OFFICE
August 29, 2007
THE COST OF THE IRAQ WAR SO FAR…
The Washington Post reported today that President Bush is preparing a request to Congress for $50 billion more to fund his failed policies in Iraq – policies that have cost the American people dearly both in lives and taxpayer dollars. The American people are demanding a New Direction on the Iraq war not another quarterly invoice. It is time to wind down this war and begin to bring our troops home safely and soon.
PRICE PAID BY U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ
• June, July, and August 2007 have marked the bloodiest summer so far for U.S. troops in Iraq. [icasualties.org]
• U.S. casualties in Iraq are 65 percent higher this year than at this time in 2006. [icasualties.org]
• As of August 29th, 3,731 U.S. troops have been killed and more than 27,660 have been wounded in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. [Department of Defense, 8/29/07]
COST TO U.S. TAXPAYERS
• Congress has already appropriated nearly $477 billion for the war in Iraq since March 2003.
• According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the U.S. is spending an estimated $10 billion per month in Iraq. [CRS, 6/28/07]
COST OF THE WAR BROKEN DOWN
o Month: $10,000,000,000
o Week: $2,307,692,380
o Day: $329,670,330
o Hour: $13,736,264
o Minute: $228,938
o Second: $3,816

• The Pentagon cannot account for more than 190,000 weapons – paid for by U.S. taxpayers – given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005. [Washington Post, 8/6/07]
• At least $10 billion in taxpayer dollars has been squandered by the government in Iraq reconstruction contracts according to U.S. auditors. [MSNBC, 2/15/07]

WHAT ELSE WE COULD DO WITH SOME OF THE MONEY SPENT ON IRAQ WAR SO FAR
• Repair the 70,000+ bridges across the country rated structurally deficient: $188 billion
• Rebuild the levees in New Orleans to withstand a Category 5 hurricane: $50 billion
• Cover all eligible but unenrolled kids in SCHIP for 5 years: $47.5 billion
• Equip U.S. public safety officials with interoperable communication equipment $18 billion
• Enroll 1.4 million more children in Head Start Programs: $10 billion
• Double the annual budget for the National Cancer Institute: $9.5 billion
• Hire one new librarian for each public school in America $4.6 billion
• Screen all air cargo on passenger plans for 10 years: $3.6 billion
• Hire 51,000 more police officers to help make America’s streets safer: $2.3 billion

February 28, 2008
THE COST OF IRAQ WAR – NEARLY FIVE YEARS LATER
Impact on the National Guard & Reserves
Our brave troops have been fighting the war in Iraq for nearly five years and the toll on our national security and homeland defense capability can be felt across the country. From the beginning of the war, the Bush Administration has leaned heavily on the National Guard and Reserves – deploying our nation’s “strategic reserve” alongside our active-duty Armed Forces with great frequency – stretching and straining our readiness here at home.
“We think there is an appalling gap in readiness for homeland defense, because it will be the Guard and Reserve that have to respond for these things.”
– Ret. Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, Commission on the National Guard & Reserves [Washington Post, 2/1/08]
“We have absolutely piecemealed our forces to death.”
– John Goheen, National Guard Association of the United States
[San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/1/08]