The true cost of war


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With 1,731 U.S. troops killed and more than 13,000 wounded, the human toll from the war in Iraq is painfully apparent. Less clear is the financial load that will be borne by all Americans for years to come.

Congress has already spent $192 billion on the war. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that occupying Iraq through 2013 would cost another $200 billion, or perhaps more. Other congressional estimates place the cost through 2010 at $600 billion. One reason for the imprecision is that the White House has not developed a war budget. Instead, the administration waited until it ran low on money and asked Congress for more. Last month, Congress approved a supplemental defense budget for $82 billion. Next year, it will be some other figure. Without an honest budget assessment, we are left to imagine and fear the ultimate total.

There are 135,000 American troops in Iraq, and the military says it needs to keep at least 120,000 there over the next two years. Every year we fight, we build in spending in the years ahead. The cost of rehabilitating gravely injured soldiers will continue the cost of the war long into the future.

Total defense spending in 2006 is estimated at about 4 percent of the gross national product, up from an average 3.6 percent since 1992. If this increase were not going into the war, it could offset cuts in education programs and low-income housing, or be used to beef up our homeland security. Instead, war competes with domestic programs and tax cuts, resulting in an endless budget deficit.

So far, the deficit has been easy to finance. But history suggests that the economic price could be substantial. During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs ran headlong into the costs of the Vietnam War. The resulting earthquake wrecked the postwar monetary system by collapsing the U.S. dollar. It began a torrent of inflation that ended in federal wage and price controls.

We've been luckier this time. The dollar has fallen, but there has been little inflation ? so far. The run-up in the price of oil and the booming price of houses may be the first hints of change.

Iraqi oil was once considered the golden goose that would provide the $55 billion the United Nations and World Bank have estimated it will cost to rebuild Iraq. Not much is heard about that now. That's because Iraq is a long way from being a large and reliable oil supplier. The country's oil reserves are estimated to be either the second- or third-largest in the world. But efforts to tap them are hampered by antiquated equipment and sabotage.

Large swaths of Iraq remain untouched by oil exploration. Only 17 of the country's 80 known oil fields have been developed, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Only 2,300 oil wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared with Texas, which has about 1 million.

Contributions from other countries also either have not been generous or have not arrived as promised. A conference held last month on Iraq's reconstruction ? sponsored by the United States and the European Union ? received mostly rhetorical support from 80 countries in attendance. The newly installed Iraqi government has received only a fraction of the $13 billion pledged at a similar conference two years ago.

It is time to face this reality: The lives and dollars paying for the war are coming from America. The longer we stay, and the longer we fight, the more it will cost.

seattletimes.com

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Heh, this is news? ;)

Hannity cracked me up today by already stepping up the notion that Iraq should pay us back the costs involved in the war and that they should also send a million dollars to each US serviceman killed there. ROFL.

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GOD i hate Hannity ... i cant even believe this guy is alive or on the air ... he's the perfect example of govt sponsor, brainwashed, mass media bullsh*t

lets talk about 1300+ soldiers killed... terrible yes... until we consider the 10s of thousands of iraqi civilians killed... oh wait... that might mean something to people.... we have to keep the average US in the dark so they have no opinion.

thanks, Hannity (and his "masters"), for continuing the propaganda and brainwashing of our citizens.

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Hannity cracked me up today by already stepping up the notion that Iraq should pay us back the costs involved in the war and that they should also send a million dollars to each US serviceman killed there.  ROFL.

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So, Hannity wants not only 1.7 billion for the soldiers, but the rest of the billions that has already been spent?

Welcome To Iraq: Unable To Afford Democracy

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Congress has already spent $192 billion on the war

i will say it agian all the oil in Iraq will not pay us back, so this war isnt about oil, told you all.

10s of thousands of iraqi civilians killed

that isnt fact, but go ahead and use it as fact and you will. the missels america used could hit the (yankees)picters hill thing (cant rember its name sorry) from 100 M. away. and how about the civilians suddam killed. but when it says on a website the US killed 10s of thousands civilians it must be true just like CBS right.

So, Hannity wants not only 1.7 billion for the soldiers, but the rest of the billions that has already been spent?

Welcome To Iraq: Unable To Afford Democracy

what the hell are you talking about.

There are 135,000 American troops in Iraq, and the military says it needs to keep at least 120,000 there over the next two years. Every year we fight, we build in spending in the years ahead. The cost of rehabilitating gravely injured soldiers will continue the cost of the war long into the future

yea, and how about the older gen. that say "we dont need any more troops they must me wrong".

___________________________________________________

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It's funny how people get all bent out of shape when *in war* governments spend money, and soldiers and innocent people die. Is this really a suprise? Do you know how many soldiers died during WW2? and how much money was spent by the allies alone? Perspective, its all about the perspective. War is deadly, horrible, nasty, mean, cruel, terrible, etc ... yes we all know that. It doesn't mean that there are times when it is nessesary to save the many.

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GOD i hate Hannity ... i cant even believe this guy is alive or on the air ... he's the perfect example of govt sponsor, brainwashed, mass media bullsh*t

lets talk about 1300+ soldiers killed... terrible yes... until we consider the 10s of thousands of iraqi civilians killed... oh wait... that might mean something to people.... we have to keep the average US in the dark so they have no opinion.

thanks, Hannity (and his "masters"), for continuing the propaganda and brainwashing of our citizens.

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You're kidding, right? Hannity's far from being government-sponsored, and Fox News is hardly an example of the "mass media". In fact, it's an exception.

I think you may want to check out who's brainwashing whom. :pinch:

As for the average US citizen having no opinion, definitely not. Most everyone HAS an opinion, the question remains whether or not it is based upon an intellegent consideration of the facts.

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You're kidding, right? Hannity's far from being government-sponsored, and Fox News is hardly an example of the "mass media". In fact, it's an exception.

I think you may want to check out who's brainwashing whom.  :pinch:

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No, sorry, If you don't think Fox news is part of the "mass media", then you've been watching too much Fox news. I don't know about Hannity being government sponsored (I personally think it would be unwise to sponsor someone like him), but he is just crazy. He's the type of guy who would be banned right quick from here.

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He's the type of guy who would be banned right quick from here.

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as if that's a rule of thumb for anything? :woot:

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as if that's a rule of thumb for anything?  :woot:

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If you can't behave and debate, you get banned, and he fits the profile.

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So, Hannity wants not only 1.7 billion for the soldiers, but the rest of the billions that has already been spent?

Welcome To Iraq: Unable To Afford Democracy

what the hell are you talking about.

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I was merely making a comment on the Hannity remarks, which are ridiculous for the size of the fee required for payback.

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No, sorry, If you don't think Fox news is part of the "mass media", then you've been watching too much Fox news.

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I'm trying to make sense of that, but failing miserably.

Fox News is quite different from, say, NBC, CNN, et al. It hardly fits with the "mainstream" if you will. I'd have thought that to be rather apparent...

And if you're going to ban Hannity, why not make it a double and oust Colmes too? ;)

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I'm trying to make sense of that, but failing miserably.

Fox News is quite different from, say, NBC, CNN, et al. It hardly fits with the "mainstream" if you will.  I'd have thought that to be rather apparent...

Everyone's liberal but Fox news. Everyone else is part of the mass media, but Fox news isn't. Hey guess what news station spreads that idea? You guessed it, Fox news.

why not make it a double and oust Colmes too?

Colmes is more like the weenie that comes in here every once and a while to make an opinion, then runs and hides before someone can comment on him. :laugh:

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Colmes is more like the weenie that comes in here every once and a while to make an opinion, then runs and hides before someone can comment on him. laugh.gif

So true. You could replace him with a scarecrow with a 'Liberal' sign draped around his neck and I don't think anyone would notice.

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