Do the math.

For an 8th grade math project, Tucker translated the costs of the Iraq war into more familiar terms. He started with a cost of

$ 318.5 billion= ~$91 billion/year

based on the estimate for Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year. That number translates as follows:

13,765,235 years of (out of state) tuition at UNC-CH
28,210,806 years of in-state tuition at UNC-CH
~ 7,962,500 years of tuition at Duke University
2,576,860,841 24-hour days at NC minimum wage
7,059,893 years straight of work at minimum wage (not counting leap years)
31,103,516 miles of $1 bills end to end
This would go around the world 1,249 times
87,771,538 tons of pennies
At average single-family house price, 1,206,439 houses
116.67 billion gallons of gasoline (average price as of Sept. 6)
6,835,204 teachers for one year at national average salary
1447.778 times the international gross of the film Fahrenheit 9/11

Percent of the National Debt as of 9-5-06:
26.77%

Percent of money spent on WW2 (by all countries, adjusted to 1990 dollars):
15.23%

867.3 times the amount spent by George Bush on his 2004 election campaign

976.3 times the amount spent by John Kerry on his 2004 bid for president