Iraq War critics, Stiglitz included, are apt to toss this figure out as a 100% opportunity-cost loss, assuming no good has or will come from the financial expense (let alone the high sacrifices of those who are fighting it for us.) An example of his comparison accounting on this subject:

A trillion dollars could have hired 15 million additional public school teachers for a year or provided 43 million students with four-year scholarships to public universities...

From this vantage point, no countering calculation is to be considered for problems averted (when was the last terrorist attack on U.S. soil?) or a world made better because we opted to shuffle the deck rather than play the cards as dealt (does the tape run better from here with or without Saddam?)

There is, suffice to say, still an argument to be made for the Iraq investment producing a better world. My purpose in this short missive is not to wade into that case, but I'll happily stand next to everything written on the subject by Christopher Hitchens.

Instead, I'd like to offer a comparison of my own. The Farm Bill, enacted into law over the objections of and a veto by George W. Bush, will directly cost U.S. taxpayers $307 billion from the federal treasury over the next five years. That's before you tack on the market distortions (such as ethanol mandates) that will continue to drive up the cost of food paid for by those same taxpayers. All to give subsidies to farmers who are making record profits from the food price hikes already taking place.

There will be an eventual de-escalation of our commitment in Iraq -- perhaps very soon. Yet there seems no end in sight for farmer welfare. There were many Farm Bills before this, and the ethanol mandates and other subsidies and distortions are now more out of control than ever.

So...

$307 billion (and probably much more) over five years for just the latest example of an ongoing, total, and undeniable, rip-off of the taxpayers

-vs-

$845 billlion over the same time period for a military operation that is (still debatable) a legitimate benefit for national security that will terminate?

I'm wondering where the Farm Bill protests are.

Is taking out Saddam really the greater immorality?