Democracy by the Pound

The other night at dinner, I made the following proposal: Stop spending money on the war in Iraq. Instead, use that money (or the illusion of money - what's a little deficit between friends?) to provide massive subsidies for inner city families on hybrid cars. The direct impact on the environment and dependence on foreign oil would be overwhelming. Even if a plan could not be worked out for individuals to get hybrid vehicles, then use the money to fund production of alternative energy transportation produced here in the United States. Create jobs and stimulate the economy while doing something marginally responsible.
Or not. It seems that we have returned to the rock-solid rhetoric of "if you don't support the war, you don't support your country." Those who advocate a sudden withdrawal should ask themselves, vice- president Cheney said: "Would the United States and other free nations be better off or worse off with Zarqawi, bin Laden and Zawahri in control of Iraq?"
Better or worse? Interesting suggestion, since it could be argued that the United States' continued presence in Iraq has done nothing but embolden Zarqawi - to say nothing of the non-event of "Where's Osama?" There was a clock in Times Square during the Republican National Convention that kept a running total of the cost of the war. At the time (August 2004), the folks at Center for American Progress calculated the war's cost as of Wednesday at $134.5 billion and are adding $177 million per day, which comes to $7.4 million per hour or $122,820 per minute. We've spent a couple million dollars since I sat down to write this.
If we're not "nation-building," then what are spending all this money and blood on? Don't get me wrong, I think Democracy is a pretty swell idea. I'm quite fond of it. I don't think we should be spending $177 million dollars a day on a war for somebody else's Democracy. But that's just my two cents worth (or $3,000,000 if I type really fast).