$200 billion is cheap, if that ensures that the petro-dollar stays for a few more decades - thats like having a unlimited money printing machine... if it had been petro-euros today, then the US would have been in the gutter for decades - a mess, which no republican or democratic president could fix.
Now could the war have been fought cheaper - YES, it could... however the public can not stand casualties, and western politicians do not try to have other leaders killed in secret...
h34r: