has been invested in something other than the basics of a strong economy. Lutz says that 800,000 jobs would have been created if that money would have been spent on healthcare or in education, and in addition, these sectors have suffered. Another serious question Lutz addresses is why hasn’t the US government collected this data and made it public? She asks, “what kind of governance do we have that we can engage in war on a quick impulse with little information, where ten years later it is left for the university to a number of people together to try to assess something that the government should have assessed 2, 3, 4 years out.” She notes that a lot of companies have profited from the war, and that the amount of waste and corruption surrounding these wars has been monumental. The study also notes that the US has not made friends through the invasion of Iraq, in particular. In addition to massive spending, civil liberties and human rights violations have been excused on the basis of national security. The idea of promoting national security also relates to the fact that the US continues to invest in military bases where it does not make good sense. Lutz’s research also might create a conversation of why do we think force works? Lutz says there is a “magical thinking” in which people assume that if something bad did not happen to us, it must be because we developed military forces in the Middle East." She says that the evidence does not support this, and says “the idea that we have been kept safe by these wars is mistaken." Another question that presents itself through Lutz’s study is would the war have been different with the draft or a war tax? She questions whether there would have been less public complacency if there were a draft or a war tax. Lutz concludes the interview by stating the need for the US to evaluate the mistakes that were made with these wars. She says “there isn’t much space in our political culture for reflection." She criticizes Obama for saying that “we need to turn the page on Iraq,” and argues that we don’t even know what story we wrote. She says we need to understand what/how it happened and will it happen again. In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, we went to liberate the people