Whether you are an advocate of the Iraq War or not, you have to admit that it is extremely costly to be involved in. The cost at the present moment is just under $493 trillion dollars. That's right trillion dollars.

Wired.com recently wrote an article about 10 Sci-Fi Techs We could have if they weren't so expensive. I've put a little spin on it, so the reader can actually get an idea of how much money is being spent on the Iraq War.

These are a few Geek things we could have built for less than what we have spent to date.

A Gundam Meca:

A what? If you're an Anime fan, you know exactly what this is. A Gundam Meca, in non-Anime lingo is basically a giant killer robot.

If you are having trouble imagining it, this should help:



The pictures still doesn't do it justice. The robot is described to be 60 feet (18 meters) in height, and it weighs and estimated 43.4 metric tons.

Cost: $750 Million (non-armed)

We could build an army of them for what we have spent to date on the Iraq War. Granted, they wouldn't be built out of Gundanium, but it would still be pretty cool.

An Orbital Hotel:

A hotel that orbits the earth and can sustain human life.

Now that would be a cool vacation. Of course a week long vacation orbiting the planet Earth would cost the traveler a cool $10 Million dollars, but having the option would be nice!

Cost: $1.2 Billion

We could have a chain of hotels in space for what we have spent on the Iraq War.

Supersonic Travel and a Maglev NY/LA Express

The Concorde fleet has been decommissioned by British Airways because of the high cost of jet fuel and maintaining the fleet.

The Maglev is basically, a train. A ridiculously fast train:

Travel would become quick, no more 9 hour flights, or 24 hour train rides, we could travel the U.S. and abroad in a minimal amount of time. As long as security doesn't hold us up, telling us water is bad.

Cost: $7.6 Billion, if you were to revive and repair 20 Concorde Supersonic Jets and build a Meglev rail from New York to Los Angeles.

We could revive and maintain a fleet of supersonic jets, fuel them and build a super speed train for a fraction of the cost of what we have spent on the Iraq War.

Last, but one I personally would like to see built the most.

A TransAtlantic Tunnel:

What better way to travel from the United States to Europe than a tunnel? No flight delays, no airport, and I would only have to take my shoes off if I wanted to. That and I could finally drive to that SGLondon Event to meet all the girls overseas! (or underseas?)

Isn't it scary that we could build a tunnel at a half a billion dollars a mile, and still not put a dent in what we have spent on the Iraq War?

Even if they were to build it under the sea floor, the traditional way a tunnel is built:

It's $10 Trillion. For what we have spent on the Iraq War, we could build 49 tunnels from New York to London, and still have some change left over.

Cost: $11.6 Trillion if both were constructed (I like options, so we have the above sea floor scenic route, and the underground tunnel route)

Chances are, due to cost, I will probably never see these things implemented in my life time. The goal of this article was to get people to realize how much money we are spending on war, when we could be spending money on things that really matter.

Granted most of the things I have mentioned in this article don't
really matter. Money used on the Iraq War could be put towards better and more helpful things for the human race.

I am by no means an advocate of the Iraq War. I do realize that some of that money spent on a daily basis goes towards our soldiers that were wounded, or unfortunately killed while serving. No amount of money can replace a leg, an arm or psychological damage done.

Money can't replace a lost loved one, and I am sorry that money is all we can offer the family, or the soldier that has served our country. I firmly support every soldier that serves our country, and want to say Thank You.

If you are reading this, and you are not registered to vote, quit wasting time and go register. Please remember, when you are at the polls this year, that things need to change in order for us to stop wasting money and lives. Your vote does count, your vote does matter, you can make a difference.

DevilsReject is looking forward to a new U.S. Administration. He won't tell you who to vote for, but he will say: Yes We Can!