Hot Docs: Putting a Price Tag on the War on Terrorism, the Internet's Future

Cost of the War on Terror So Far: $808 Billion: As of September, approximately $808 billion has gone to pay for the "Global War on Terror" since 2001, a Government Accountability Office performance audit of defense spending shows. The GAO, which looked at military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a host of other counterterrorism activities, criticizes the Defense Department for classifying some expenses incorrectly and notes that they therefore consider these numbers "approximations." The Pentagon has agreed to several steps that should "improve credibility, transparency, and timeliness" of its financial reporting. But regardless of the final total, the enormous numbers involved mean that, as the counterterrorism effort continues, "the United States' commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing fiscal challenge." A separate estimate by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments puts the cost of just the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at some $904 billion and counting.

Future of the Internet: Experts on the development of the Internet "expect major technology advances" by 2020 but aren't sure "whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives." The Pew Internet and American Life Project continues its investigation into the future of the Internet with a survey of information leaders and activists. Most think that the Internet's reach will spread as technology and mobile devices improve, and that questions of privacy and information security will continue to be hashed out. The side effect of all this will be familiar to many who struggle to maintain a work-life balance. "Divisions between personal time and work time and between physical and virtual reality will be further erased for everyone who is connected," the report concludes.

Hunger and Homelessness in America: As the economic crisis reverberates, homelessness and hunger are increasing in the United States. Over the past year, the homeless population has risen by an estimated 12 percent, and the number of people requesting food assistance is up by 95 percent, according to the annual Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The survey of 25 American cities reveals that many have had to reduce or restrict the aid they can give because of increasing prices and scarce resources. Among the most common reasons for homelessness are the lack of affordable housing and unemployment. At the same time, "the economic downturn and rising unemployment have increased the demand for food assistance while decreasing the number of donations from individual donors."

American Naval Power: Maintaining the strength of the U.S. Navy is a "vital national interest" and should be a top priority for the new administration, a new report argues. As part of the Center for a New American Security's continuing series on the future of the U.S. military, Frank Hoffman notes that, although the total number of ships has been cut in recent years, the U.S. Navy "is still substantially larger than any other, and has unmatched global reach and endurance." What's important, he says, is that the fleet must remain able to meet current demands in deep water and closer to shore: "We must hedge against a dark future, but future conflict will be more complex than a straightforward contest of fleets in the Pacific." He argues that the efforts against terrorism have "allowed our attention to drift" from this aim, and calls upon the new administration's leaders to "resolve the apparent strategy-resources mismatch that currently characterizes our present naval policy and capability, and link naval resources to our overall strategy."

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