Dragon Skin Body Armor for 66,460 Troops

For the cost of one day in Iraq, we could outfit 66,460 troops stationed in Iraq with "Dragon Skin," the body armor widely accepted to be the best on the market - better than the less expensive armor the troops are given currently.

For $332.3 million a day, you would think we'd be equipping our troops in Iraq with top-of-the-line combat gear, right? The armor they currently wear is called "Interceptor," but per an NBC investigation that used Department of Defense research, Dragon Skin is the armor of choice for Army VIPS in Iraq and Afghanistan and CIA operatives. Even the inventor of Interceptor, Jim Magee, agrees that Dragon Skin is superior to his own.

At around $5,000 for a full suit of Dragon Skin, 66,460 troops - or nearly half the 155,000 total in Iraq - would be given the best protection. For the cost of just over two days in Iraq, every military personnel would be covered. Or if the Army insisted on using the less expensive Interceptor armor, one day in Iraq could purchase 302,090 full suits - or two suits each - and troops could layer one Interceptor over another.


Source: MSNBC

66,460,000 Footlong Subs

For the cost of one day in Iraq, we could buy 66,460,000 footlong sub sandwiches from Subway.

(Based on Subway's current $5 footlong promotion)

At this price, we could buy every U.S. troop currently stationed in Iraq (approximately 155,000) a footlong Subway sandwich of their choice (a filling lunch) for the next 429 days, or about a year and 10 weeks.

This might be a nice alternative to the Halliburton-provided meals that the Pentagon found in 2004 were prepared in "dirty kitchens" with "blood all over the floor" and "rotting meats and vegetables."

And you might be surprised to learn (as we were) that there are currently 19 Subway restaurants located in Iraq - so no need to worry about shipping costs or refrigeration.


Sources: Center for American Progress