CBO: Bush Plans For Iraq Will Cost Trillions

[unhappycamper]

CBO: Bush Plans For Iraq Will Cost Trillions
By Spencer Ackerman - September 20, 2007, 10:02AM

A new Congressional study finds that President Bush's plans for the U.S. in Iraq over the next several decades will reach the trillions of dollars, on top of the approximately $567 billion the war has already cost. That accounting assumes a significant troop draw-down -- and still tallies a daunting expense for the United States.

We've added the report to our document collection. You can read it here.

On June 1, during a trip to U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu, Defense Secretary Robert Gates mused about how to "posture ourselves" in Iraq "for the long term." The Vietnam experience underscored the undesirability of a sudden, abrupt withdrawal. Far better for the U.S. to follow the experiences of post-conflict garrisoning in Korea and Japan, he said: "a mutually agreed arrangement whereby we have a long and enduring presence." President Bush is reportedly intrigued by the so-called Korea model, wherein the U.S. has guaranteed security on the Korean peninsula with at least four U.S. Army combat brigades for half a century. Indeed, in his speech on Thursday, Bush declared himself ready to build an "enduring relationship" between the U.S. and Iraq.

The study, conducted by the Congressional Budget Office, decided to follow the Korea model to calculate its expense. Since it's unclear for how long or under what conditions combat operations will ensue, the CBO projects both a combat and a non-combat presence. Both, however, are projected to require 55,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The combat scenario entails one-time costs of $4 to $8 billion, with annual expenses of $25 billion, projected outward. Under the non-combat scenario, a $8 billion one-time cost -- mainly for the construction of additional "enduring" bases -- would be followed by annual costs of $10 billion or less.

A prior CBO study, released in August, estimated (large pdf) that U.S. costs in Iraq from 2009 to 2017 will total approximately $1 trillion on the assumption of a troop presence of 75,000. On top of that, under the reduced-force combat scenario envisioned in this CBO estimate, the U.S. will spend another $1 trillion by 2057 -- the lifespan of the U.S.'s Korean presence to date.


Rest of article at: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004243.php

[acmavm]

1. And there will still be that pathetic slightly less-than-a-fourth of the

population that will wallow in poverty and support this administration while they spend billion upon billion upon billions to shore up their shaky hold on Iraq. (I say less than a fourth because I do not believe that almost 30% of this country supports the pointy-earred fuckwit and his master dick cheney).

[indepat]

4. The willingness to spend trillions of dollars in public funds to enrich big oil by trillions of

dollars, killing/maiming millions of people in the process, displacing millions more while the infrastructure at home rots truly boggles the mind and all other senses. This insanity is unparalleled by modern man, yet most in the Congress are complicit/compliant, most large corporations support, and most of the MSM still shills. We are witnessing insanity of epic and unprecedented proportions, to wit a willing to sacrifice everything this country has become and ever stood for to help one individual and a coterie of sickofants realize their wet dream.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. I know most of you don't Believe In God ,but believe me Shrub and Satan

Have the same plan for Desolation and Despair.

[acmavm]

5. I believe. And I agree. Evil is evil and it all has the same end in mind.

[Chipper Chat]

3. Where will the money come from?

Welfare will be the first program to be scrapped, then medicare, then public school funding. All subsidies to the Arts will end. Repair of local roadways will no longer be federally-subsidized. No more student loans. Colleges will be left to depend on church funding. Drilling for oil will begin in the Everglades and Arctic. Worst of all (scary) - our national parks will be sold off to private developers. All for the war dontcha-know. Hey we dont want no stinkin terrists landing on our shores in canoes and killing us!