Boston.com's Big Picture is publishing more entries from this year's National Geographic Traveler Photography contest. They are posting over three dozen of the people who have sent in photographs . The contest closes this June 30. Here are some of my favorites which have been submitted so far.
"One article from 2010 rom the Kabul Press even went out and showed that the estimated cost to kill each Taliban member is conservatively $50 million and that it could be as much as $100 million."
The Boston Massacre last week once again has put the War On Terrorism on the front burner. You can count on conservatives using it to fight the proposed immigration legislation. New security measures will be demanded and corporations will have new equipment to sell to meet those new measures.
In many ways, bin Laden was right. He insisted that terrorist acts would play havoc with countries economies and well-being. According to an article in 24/7 Wall Street, over four trillion dollars have been spent on the War On Terrorism.
There are some raw figures which start to become rather alarming. Steve Killelea is the founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace and he gave an interview to CNBC at the end of 2012 showing that the cost of the fight against terrorism was on the rise. This group put out a publication at the end of 2012 called the Global Terrorism Index ranking 158 nations around the world. This shows that in 2011 alone there were some 4,564 terrorist incidents globally which resulted in 7,473 deaths and also 13,961 injuries.
On the CNBC video, Mr. Killelea said that the cost to fight terrorism has risen handily. His estimate of the 9/11 cost the U.S. economy about $80 billion or 0.8% of GDP at the time. More recently, the cost to the airline sector in the United States alone went up by 25% to about $7.4 billion. Mr. Killelea said that this $7.4 billion cost compared to industry wide annual profits of about $8.6 billion at the same time.
While calculating the costs against terrorism are more than challenging, one issue stands out from the 2012 Global Peace Index: the economic benefit to the global economy was projected to be $9 trillion in the last year if the world had been completely peaceful.
If we go back further, there is a report from the Congressional Research Service showing the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with other terror operations since September 11, 2001. This showed in 2011 that Congress had approved a total of $1.283 trillion for things such as military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and health care for veterans for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks. Of that amount, $806 billion was allocated to expenses for Iraq and $444 billion for Afghanistan and related.
This video was taken from a window of a neighbor as the final gun fight takes place just before the capture of the second Boston Bomber. This would have scared the hell out of me.
Every conceivable uniform can be seen in the streets of Boston today as the manhunt continues for the "marathon terrorist'. Federal, state and local law enforcement personnel are frantically searching the city for the fugitive. The metropolitan area has become an armed camp. Citizens are staying in doors and the city reminds one of a ghost town.
Here are some photographs taken today.
The odds are by now you have seen this video of the crowd at Boston Bruins game singing the National Anthem with emotion and power. However, if there are just a few of you who haven't seen it, I wanted to be sure you had the chance to witness this beautiful moment.
President and Ms. Obama has more than their fair share at speaking at memorials around the country from gun violence. In Boston, he once again was called upon as our President to reassure the nation by speaking at the Boston Marathon Memorial Service. He gave a powerful and moving speech.
The Richard's family in Boston is left devastated by the Boston bombing.
The father, Bill Richard, was running in the marathon and his entire family waited for him at the victory line. The bomb blast took place and the toll for Bill Richard's was unbearable.
His eight year old son Martin was instantly killed. His wife Denis is in critical condition with brain injuries. He young daughter six year old Jane has lost a leg and is in critical condition. Only did his older son Henry who is twelve escape injury.
Not only is the family devastated by their loss the nation grieves with the family and prays for them.
Words simply fail us as we face another shocking lesson in the capacity of people to hurt and maim others. We don't know who committed the horrible crime in Boston but we all know it is the greatest of horrors. People who were filled with joy watching an exciting event with average citizens who had worked hard to excel for the pleasure of others becoming targets for some insane person(s).
Our hearts ached for the victims and their families.
Photographers for years, even more than film, has captured those moments so we don't ever forget the consequences of anger and hate. Boston.com's Big Picture continues to be the photojournalism site in the world.
While my instincts tell me it is domestic generated, America still doesn't know. What matters is that this inhumane act never ever changes us as a people. In the end, love is the answer.
Today we all are in Boston.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS...
Boston.com is running a stark video of the explosion as it happened from the ground level as it happened.
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