For those who oppose the Iraq war, there is some small consolation if you also oppose farm subsidies:
US Agriculture Committee head Tom Harkin says farm subsidies are likely to be reduced, because the Iraq war is becoming a "black hole" in the US Budget.
Mr Harkin says there is no way that the next US farm bill can escape the effects of the Iraq war on the Budget.
The Iraq war has cost the US about half-a-trillion dollars so far.
"It's going to impinge on the farm bill, it's going to impinge on everything around here so anybody that's thinking, well we've got to continue and get good support for agriculture, well I don't know if it's going to be there, because of all the money we're spending in Iraq," he says.
US Agriculture secretary Mike Johanns said recently that the US farm support system may be sitting in quicksand under challenge abroad in the WTO and under fire at home with a Budget strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'm no expert on domestic trade politics, but this does seem like part of an administration strategy to make the case for lower farm subsidies and use that to (finally) complete the Doha round.
