The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond

[Donc]

Kinda look like the bush administrations estimates of bringing democracy to the middle-east missed the mark a bit.” Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. “ The real cost being according to this article is north of $3 trillion.

I wonder what happened to these famous words?

“ "We're dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction." “


< But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war's broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected. >

< For instance, many have wondered aloud whether, absent the Iraq invasion, we would still be stuck in Afghanistan. And this is not the only "what if" worth contemplating. We might also ask: If not for the war in Iraq, would oil prices have risen so rapidly? Would the federal debt be so high? Would the economic crisis have been so severe?>

<The answer to all four of these questions is probably no. >


washingtonpost.com

 

[Goobieman]

Kinda look like the bush administrations estimates of bringing democracy to the middle-east missed the mark a bit.” Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. “ The real cost being according to this article is north of $3 trillion.

Sure... once you inpute any and everything you can think of that might relate to the war, directly or indirectly, regqardless of who paid for it and why, as well as projected spending on same.
:roll:

 

[BCR]

it was totally worth though, or was it?

 

[USA_1]

Sure... once you inpute any and everything you can think of that might relate to the war, directly or indirectly, regqardless of who paid for it and why, as well as projected spending on same.
:roll:

So was it much closer to the $50 billion estimate of Bush and company?

 

[USA_1]

it was totally worth though, or was it?

For some it was. The oil companies that are back in Iraq, Halliburton, Blackwater and all of the hundreds of contractors that made a bundle.

 

[UtahBill]

Check with the Veterans Administration, ask them how much Vietnam is still costing the govt.....we need to learn to fight smarter, with less impact on humans, theirs and ours....

 

[Laila]

Hah.
The idiotic countries who supported this war deserve the debt.
Hopefully that'll teach US and UK to not start wars for no reason but I doubt it'll work :shrug:

 

[Goobieman]

So was it much closer to the $50 billion estimate of Bush and company?

Closer to $50B than $3,000B, yes.

 

[Goobieman]

Hah.
Hopefully that'll teach US and UK to not start wars for no reason but I doubt it'll work :shrug:

Good thing that's not what happened.

 

[USA_1]

Closer to $50B than $3,000B, yes.

Hard to say. We will be paying all the costs for the next 40 years.
Projected total cost of veterans’ health care and disability from the Iraq war: $422 billion to $717 billion.

 

[Chappy]

Kinda look like the bush administrations estimates of bringing democracy to the middle-east missed the mark a bit.” Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. “ The real cost being according to this article is north of $3 trillion. …

The Bush Administration $50B - $60B estimates only covered the costs of the war up until the “Mission Accomplished” event on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. The $3+T cost of the insurgency was a completely separate line item that somehow got left out of the “Bringing Democracy to the Middle East” plan. Pity.

 

[Goobieman]

Hard to say. We will be paying all the costs for the next 40 years.
Projected total cost of veterans’ health care and disability from the Iraq war: $422 billion to $717 billion.

You can impute as much as you want to come up with whatever total you want. Given that, its unclear how any such total is supposed to be meaningful. :shrug:

 

[UtahBill]

You can impute as much as you want to come up with whatever total you want. Given that, its unclear how any such total is supposed to be meaningful. :shrug:

Whatever the total, it was a waste of money to fight in IRAQ, either time. The war on terrorism is justified based on 9/11. The IRAQ war should have been the Saudi war....

 

[j-mac]

Whatever the total, it was a waste of money to fight in IRAQ, either time. The war on terrorism is justified based on 9/11. The IRAQ war should have been the Saudi war....

Is that how these people felt?

Freedom Agenda - Quotes and Facts on Iraq


j-mac

 

[UtahBill]

Is that how these people felt?

Freedom Agenda - Quotes and Facts on Iraq


j-mac

Those people have no say in how I feel....I don't vote Democrat. It was Saudi citizens who did 9/11. They were brainwashed by saudi religious leaders under the wing of saudi governemtn. We should have presented a bill to the Saus for the entire expense of rebuilding the twin towers plus compensation to the victims plus compensation for damage to our economy.

 

[Goobieman]

Whatever the total, it was a waste of money to fight in IRAQ, either time.

In your opinion.

 

[Grant]

Is that how these people felt?

Freedom Agenda - Quotes and Facts on Iraq


j-mac

Great stuff, J-mac, and a reminder to some this history didn't begin during this morning's breakfast.

 

[Grant]

Those people have no say in how I feel....I don't vote Democrat. It was Saudi citizens who did 9/11. They were brainwashed by saudi religious leaders under the wing of saudi governemtn. We should have presented a bill to the Saus for the entire expense of rebuilding the twin towers plus compensation to the victims plus compensation for damage to our economy.

Unfortunately, UtahBill, your feelings aren't the issue on this war against Islamism. It is an international issue and a common concern to everyone. Or should be.

If you want to drop a bomb on Saudi Arabia and hope this would put an end to Muslim terrorism then you really haven't looked at this issue too closely.

The Saudis won't pay for the reconstruction of the WTC. This is a silly dream. Instead they are contributing to building a victory mosque nearby. That's the reality.

How many terrorist acts must there be before you finally figure out what's going on here?

 

[Goobieman]

Unfortunately, UtahBill, your feelings aren't the issue on this war against Islamism. It is an international issue and a common concern to everyone. Or should be.
If you want to drop a bomb on Saudi Arabia and hope this would put an end to Muslim terrorism then you really haven't looked at this issue too closely.

Never mind the absurdity of the argument that the state of origin of certain perpretrators somehow necessitates that said state was involved in the actions of said perpetrators, therefore justifying action against that state.

 

[zimmer]

Bring up Iraq and you get some curious and curiouser replies.

Kinda look like the bush administrations estimates of bringing democracy to the middle-east missed the mark a bit.” Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. “ The real cost being according to this article is north of $3 trillion.

I wonder what happened to these famous words?

“ "We're dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction." “


< But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war's broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected. >

< For instance, many have wondered aloud whether, absent the Iraq invasion, we would still be stuck in Afghanistan. And this is not the only "what if" worth contemplating. We might also ask: If not for the war in Iraq, would oil prices have risen so rapidly? Would the federal debt be so high? Would the economic crisis have been so severe?>

<The answer to all four of these questions is probably no. >


washingtonpost.com

You think we can call off the war on poverty? It's cost 7 trillion and has made matters worse. At least in Iraq we have had success.

Check with the Veterans Administration, ask them how much Vietnam is still costing the govt.....we need to learn to fight smarter, with less impact on humans, theirs and ours....

We were just fighting in Afghanistan with low impact on humans... the problem is it had a higher impact on OUR troops.
Now I hope they go in and do what is necessary without all the PC BS, and fear of upsetting a few goat herders.

Hah.
The idiotic countries who supported this war deserve the debt.
Hopefully that'll teach US and UK to not start wars for no reason but I doubt it'll work :shrug:

Start wars for no reason?
No reason?
No.
Reason.

Whatever the total, it was a waste of money to fight in IRAQ, either time. The war on terrorism is justified based on 9/11. The IRAQ war should have been the Saudi war....

Waste either time?
So you wouldn't mind Saddam screwing up the world oil supplies (1st time)?
Or the chance that after 12-years and a terror attack that actually had the French say they were Americans (for 30 minutes), that the chance of Saddam's WMD ending up wreaking havoc when passed to a terrorist wasn't worth protecting the nation? When Hans Blix stated he had weapnized WMD; VX and ANTHRAX... and Clinton sent Sec. Cohen to inform the people of the threat, and possibility of war.

Those people have no say in how I feel....I don't vote Democrat. It was Saudi citizens who did 9/11. They were brainwashed by saudi religious leaders under the wing of saudi governemtn. We should have presented a bill to the Saus for the entire expense of rebuilding the twin towers plus compensation to the victims plus compensation for damage to our economy.

Would be nice, but the world doesn't work on Disney justice.
We might at times, but internationally... nooooooooo.

.

 

[The Prof]

cbo says iraq war cost 709B

cbo says the stimu... err, recovery act cost 862B

cbo says the first 2 years of stimu... cost MORE than six years of what's-his-name's war

Little-known fact: Obama's failed stimulus program cost more than the Iraq war | Washington Examiner

what do YOU say---what's afghanistan costing?

did you see this:

run on kabul bank: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/world/asia/05kabul.html

panic, they know we're leaving

and: AFP: US denies taxpayer funds to bail out Kabul Bank

intervention, hmm? seems we've seen that somewhere before...

 

[Joe The Plumber]

I'd take the CBOs estimates with a grain of salt, surely all the debt that has been incurred through this war hasn't been factored into the CBOs estimate. I wouldn't doubt 3 trillion is a plausible estimate for the cost of this war.

 

[The Prof]

I'd take the CBOs estimates with a grain of salt

why do you presume anyone cares how you season your food?

reality is, congress eyes elmendorf as euler

it's a big part of the problem

 

[UtahBill]

Bring up Iraq and you get some curious and curiouser replies.


You think we can call off the war on poverty? It's cost 7 trillion and has made matters worse. At least in Iraq we have had success.


We were just fighting in Afghanistan with low impact on humans... the problem is it had a higher impact on OUR troops.
Now I hope they go in and do what is necessary without all the PC BS, and fear of upsetting a few goat herders.


Start wars for no reason?
No reason?
No.
Reason.


Waste either time?
So you wouldn't mind Saddam screwing up the world oil supplies (1st time)?
Or the chance that after 12-years and a terror attack that actually had the French say they were Americans (for 30 minutes), that the chance of Saddam's WMD ending up wreaking havoc when passed to a terrorist wasn't worth protecting the nation? When Hans Blix stated he had weapnized WMD; VX and ANTHRAX... and Clinton sent Sec. Cohen to inform the people of the threat, and possibility of war.


Would be nice, but the world doesn't work on Disney justice.
We might at times, but internationally... nooooooooo.

.

Still on WMD? did we find them and the world wasn't told?
as long as we buy oil from the ME, we are complicit in the raping and pillaging of the American economy, not to mention the waste of our troops dying for nothing.
Saddam did not attack us.....

 

[zimmer]

Still on WMD? did we find them and the world wasn't told?
as long as we buy oil from the ME, we are complicit in the raping and pillaging of the American economy, not to mention the waste of our troops dying for nothing.
Saddam did not attack us.....

Hans Blix stated the case of WMD as well as any Democrat after Saddam booted the Inspecteurs de la UN.

I agree with the oil bit. We have coal,gas and nukes to exploit. Dems are wedded to the enviromaniac lobby. Those that block efforts for all three.

Our troops weren't wasted. They achieved something tremendous. None died in vain.

Saddam didn't attack us... an the standard comeback would be ... and neither did Germany, but let us go a little deeper. Saddam lost a war, agreed to disarm and then spent 12-years proving how corrupt the UN is, how feeble Clinton was with dealing with his oil sales corruption. Hans Blix made the case, as did Sec. Cohen under the direction of Clinton. Clinton sent Cohen out to warn the nation about... the deadly nature of VX and ANTHRAX... because... they believed... as well as the UN, French, Germans, Russians, Brits... that... Saddam had WMD. They also believed he was mad enought to use them. He did after all trigger Gulf War 1. What's the big deal about directing some WMD to people who hate the US as much as you do? (Connecting the dots... remember that?). After 911 he was seen as as threat. He was proven hostile to the US and he had WMD and used them.

As David Kay noted before the Senate Armed Svcs Cmtt; the chance of a terrorist getting WMD in Iraq was real because of the decay of the system. He believed we might not have dodged the bullet.

Anything else you want to learn?

.