Will someone make some comparisons, please. . .

[matt819]

The cost of this travesty in Iraq is now pegged at $230 billion and rising.

Compare this, please, if possible, to the costs of waging WWII and vietnam, in today's dollars.

Possible?

[The Doctor.]

1. I'd love to know, and I would think it's published on the net somewhere...

but I'm not that net savvy.

I'll take a quick look though.

Found it;

US wars: The cost in today's dollars

Conflict Cost (billions) Per capita cost
Revolutionary War (1775-1783) $2.2 $447
War of 1812 (1812-1815) 1.1 120
Mexican War (1846-1848) 1.6 68
Civil War (1861-1865) 62.0 1,686
Spanish-American War (1898) 9.6 110
World War I (1917-1918) 190.6 2,489
World War II (1941-1945) 2,896.3 20,388
Korea (1950-1953) 335.9 2,266
Vietnam (1964-1972) 494.3 2,204
First Gulf War (1990-1991) 76.1 306

Source: William Nordhaus, Yale University. Cost in 2002 dollars.

http://www.markblackburn.org/Papers/AOA/GulfWarII.htm

[The Doctor.]

3. So let's break this down per year...

Revolutionary War (1775-1783) $2.2 =--- .275
War of 1812 (1812-1815) 1.1 =--- .37
Mexican War (1846-1848) 1.6 =--- .8
Civil War (1861-1865) 62.0 =--- 15.5
Spanish-American War (1898) 9.6 =--- 9.6
World War I (1917-1918) 190.6 =--- 190.6
World War II (1941-1945) 2,896.3 =--- 724.0
Korea (1950-1953) 335.9 =--- 111.97
Vietnam (1964-1972) 494.3 =--- 61.79
First Gulf War (1990-1991) 76.1 =--- 76.1

Of course this is rough considering it takes no months into account, but so far Iraq is not proving to be the most expensive. (@ 116/year)

Hmm... maybe if we spent more on 'Nam...

[ConsAreLiars]

6. Could you adjust that to per capita costs? It would make more sense.

A historian talking with Mr. PotatoHead today rated the Revolutionary and Civil wars as 2nd and 1st in lives lost, probably in $$$ too, and it would be interesting to see how these others compare.

[The Doctor.]

7. I'm too lazy for that... tell you what though,

Give me average US population for each of those periods and I'll do it.

(Or I'll just get to it later.)

[knowbody0]

2. i'll just bet that 230 billion

could nearly wipe out world hunger

[punpirate]

4. The costs in current dollars...

... for WWII pre-war, war, and post-war demobilization were around $2.2 trillion in current dollars. But, remember, there were over 12 million men and women in uniform, the Army and Navy built up to full strength from the minimum necessary to defend our territorial boundaries, and the output was prodigious--almost 300,000 aircraft alone, of three dozen different types, were built in about four years.

As for Vietnam, it's difficult to know with any accuracy what the total costs were, since they weren't separately totalled before 1964. From 1964 to the large pull-outs in 1971-2, the cost in 1996 dollars over and above normal defense spending was about $260 billion, maybe $315-320 billion dollars in today's dollars.

What that should tell you is that we're getting a lot less for our money today than we were--the unit costs for virtually all items are much more expensive today than previously.

During one particularly bad period during the Vietnam war, the US lost over 900 aircraft of all types. The replacement cost then was about $6 billion. That would be about $25-26 billion in today's dollars, which barely buys one squadron of B-2s and spare parts....


Edit for syntax.

[The Doctor.]

5. good breakdown.

The underequipment (if that's a word) of our soldiers in Iraq supports your point prodigiously.