Bush wars to cost 40 times higher than original estimates; $8,000 per man, woman child in US

[unhappycamper]

New estimates show Iraq, Afghanistan will cost US $2.4 trillion; White House refuses to provide estimate


Bush wars to cost 40 times higher than original estimates; $8,000 per man, woman child in US
Nick Juliano
Published: Wednesday October 24, 2007


The United States is spending about $8,000 per man, woman and child in the country to pursue wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to new estimates that show the wars will cost about $2.4 trillion over the next decade.

More than one-fourth of the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan -- $705 billion -- will go to paying interest on the wars' costs, which are being funded with borrowed dollars, according to an estimate to be released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office. Iraq accounts for about 80 percent of the costs with a $1.9 trillion tab, including $564 million in interest, a House budget committee staff director told USA Today, which reported the numbers Wednesday morning.

"The number is so big, it boggles the mind," Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) told the newspaper.

The CBO previously estimated the war's costs at $1.6 trillion, which did not include interest payments or Bush's latest request for an extra $46 billion in war funding.

Since President Bush decided to invade Iraq in early 2003, the war's costs have skyrocketed as government number-crunchers continue to revise their estimates.

The latest estimate is more than 40 times higher than the Bush administration's initial estimates that the war would cost between $50 billion and $60 billion; meanwhile a proclivity for cutting taxes has marked Bush's tenure almost as much as his dedication to mounting international invasions.


Rest of article at: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Your_bill_for_US_wars_8000_1024.html

[bdamomma]

1. this administration needs to be sent to the Hague

they are criminals pure and simple.

[Lasher]

2. There's actually no end to the costs if we stay in Iraq forever like Cheney wants.

I think we were right to have gone into Afghanistan, and there actually is a real coalition there, so it's good to see that the $0.5 trillion projection for that occupation is separated from the $1.9 trillion for Iraq.

We've already wasted $463 billion in Iraq.

[grytpype]

3. Holy Toledo.

It's unbelievable. $2.4 trillion.

$2,400,000,000,000.00

[JohnnyLib2]

4. Recommended. Those figures might actually register with

some folks.

[Major Hogwash]

5. "Iraq's oil production will pay for the rebuilding of Iraq" - Wolfowitz, March 2003

Yeah, like we really believed that shit too.