The Costs of the War

The costs of the Iraqi war in terms of lives lost, lives ruined, hopes dashed, futures fouled, and destinies destroyed are incalculable.

Thank you for all that, Mr. Bush.

Financially, the costs are out of sight.

Back at the beginning of this mess, before the neocon nutcases undertook their preemptive invasion, estimates of the cost of such a mission ranged from $50-60 billion (Donald Rumsfeld) to $200 billion (Larry Lindsey, Bush's economic advisor). No big deal, everybody said. As if $200 billion was nothing!

Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes (The Times of London UK), in an article appearing at Alternet, say that if "Congress approves the rest of the $200 billion war supplemental requested for fiscal year 2008 ... Congress will have appropriated a total of over $845 billion for military operations, reconstruction, embassy costs, enhanced security at US bases, and foreign aid programs in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Monthly operating costs for Iraq alone are going to run more than $12.5 billion per month. In Afghanistan, the monthly costs will run about $16 billion per month. These figures do not include the $500 billion that goes for the regular expenses of the Defense Department.

It is estimated that the total cost of this horrendous misadventure will run over three trillion dollars!

What benefits have the citizens of the United States received from these military actions?

Name just one.