Study: Iraq War Costs U.S More Than $2 Trillion

[108]

with expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

why did we go in there again


Link

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

The report, the work of about 30 academics and experts, was published in advance of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.

The 2011 study said the combined cost of the wars was at least $3.7 trillion, based on actual expenditures from the U.S. Treasury and future commitments, such as the medical and disability claims of U.S. war veterans.

That estimate climbed to nearly $4 trillion in the update.

[gator421]

Trick question?

[channingcrowderhungry]

But we knocked over that statue, so that was so worth 2 trillion dollars!!

[HudsonGator]

Well, there's a big chunk of our current National debt that gets many of you so upset.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Originally Posted by HudsonGator

Well, there's a big chunk of our current National debt that gets many of you so upset.

Well take people from either party and you'll find one that will excuse the war debt and the other that will excuse the non-war debt.

[Dreamliner]

It was a colossal blunder, no doubt. I'm just glad we've got a president now who only twice elected the fund the continuation of the war.

[gator421]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

It was a colossal blunder, no doubt. I'm just glad we've got a president now who only twice elected the fund the continuation of the war.

Harder to get out once your in.

[HudsonGator]

Originally Posted by gator421

Harder to get out once your in.

Yes, like the recession, Bush created it, and Obama is forced to clean up the mess.

[gator421]

Originally Posted by HudsonGator

Yes, like the recession, Bush created it, and Obama is forced to clean up the mess.

Don't go blaming Bush. You'll get all of cons riled up.

[Swampmaster]

what's a couple of trillion---the government can print all the money it wants, borrow more from the chinese and just pay for it in "the future"

[Lawdog88]

Did that cost tabulation include the pallets of Benjamins offloaded from C-5's at the Baghdad Airport, and spirited away to the Iraqi treasury, never to be seen or heard from again ?

Gosh, I really wonder what happened to all of that stuff. Surely a good result was achieved with it.

[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by HudsonGator

Yes, like the recession, Bush created it, and Obama is forced to clean up the mess.

You give Bush too much credit if you think he created the recession. Certainly he didn't help matters but crediting him with the genesis is a bit overreaching.

[AzCatFan]

The Iraqi war was a colossal waste of money and human lives. Read an article recently that Bush really thought that once Saddam was removed, people would celebrate their new found freedom and democracy would flourish. I said a decade ago what a pipe dream that was, and it's no more true today than it was 10 years ago. Anyone with half a brain and understanding of the geo-political history of the region knew the most likely result of removing a dictator and creating a power vacuum in Iraq was sectarian violence.

Unfortunately, we can't go back in time and fix things. And like our parents told us, if you create a mess, you are responsible for the clean up. Problem in Iraq is, there is no good way to clean it up. Stay, and maybe we can maintain a status quo? Leave, and the same type of vacuum is created and again, civil war erupts. Damned if we stay, and damned if we leave.

I hope we leave and start funneling some money and weapons to a faction we hope will remain pro-American; then pray that they win and take control of Iraq. At this point, that's probably the best we can hope for. I see no more reason to stay, and at this point, it's only throwing good money after bad.

[rivergator]

I just hope we take it as a lesson for the future:
1. Don't go into a war unless you have a whole lot better reasons than we did in Iraq.
2. Don't go into a war without a whole lot better idea what will happen than we did in Iraq.
3. Don't mislead the American people on 1 and 2.

[channingcrowderhungry]

Originally Posted by rivergator

I just hope we take it as a lesson for the future:
1. Don't go into a war unless you have a whole lot better reasons than we did in Iraq.
2. Don't go into a war without a whole lot better idea what will happen than we did in Iraq.
3. Don't mislead the American people on 1 and 2.

That pretty much rules out everyone war since WW2, which is fine with me.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Originally Posted by channingcrowderhungry

That pretty much rules out everyone war since WW2, which is fine with me.

Some would debate that it includes WW2 as well. I wouldn't, at least there was an actual declaration of war, which is more than you can say about the "conflicts" that followed.

[rivergator]

Originally Posted by channingcrowderhungry

That pretty much rules out everyone war since WW2, which is fine with me.

can't argue with that.

[PSGator66]

Don't act like there weren't any Dems supporting going into Iraq.

[T3goalie]

$2 Trillion? Where is all the oil the press and the left said our kids fought, got disfigured and died for?

The Iraq war did nothing but create a vacum and an imbalance of power in the region? It was a cluster F#$K from the onset. Who won the Iraq war? IRAN!

*Don't go to war unless you get a declaration of war and plan on winning the war. The post WWI/WWII police actions have been anything but all out warfare. I recently re-read the Art of War and was fascinated and shocked when it dawned on me that the US was able to broke every single rule and every discipline of warfare that was articulated 2,500 years ago. Read it yourself and put it in context of Iraq and you will be stunned at the level of stupidity that is practiced by our modern political self proclaimed geniuses.

[rivergator]

Originally Posted by T3goalie

$2 Trillion? Where is all the oil the press and the left said our kids fought, got disfigured and died for?

The Iraq war did nothing but create a vacum and an imbalance of power in the region? It was a cluster F#$K from the onset. Who won the Iraq war? IRAN!

*Don't go to war unless you get a declaration of war and plan on winning the war. The post WWI/WWII police actions have been anything but all out warfare. I recently re-read the Art of War and was fascinated and shocked when it dawned on me that the US was able to broke every single rule and every discipline of warfare that was articulated 2,500 years ago. Read it yourself and put it in context of Iraq and you will be stunned at the level of stupidity that is practiced by our modern political self proclaimed geniuses.

you're blaming the war on the press and the left?