The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More

[polly7]

This is from 2008 and I have no idea if later studies have debunked the amount or reinforced it, but to me ... it's mind-boggling that the cost of an illegal, unnecessary war that has caused so much destruction to Iraq in terms of infrasture, pollution, death, misery ...... including to those who have been sent there ....... has not been headline news.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846_pf.html

[Journeyman]

1. I've believed since '02, the so-called "War on Terror" (no matter how phrased). . .

will not end until it tears this country apart. The media may ignore it for the moment, but it's merely gone subterranean -- for the moment.

[texastoast]

2. Move on there

Nothing to look at here. Don't make me look myself in the mirror and think I might have contributed to this debacle. American Idol starts tomorrow. Don't remind me we are the nouveau Germans and that we allowed the reduction in the veterans' benefits. Don't remind me I wasn't successful in getting the war stopped or preventing the debt from being on the next generation's back. Don't remind me of the Bush voters I sat next to and had to put up with so I could keep a job while the nightmare continued.

Don't remind me what a mess we are still digging out of or that a bunch of people who voted for change still don't understand how long it is going to take us to clean up the Bush mess.

[Bigmack]

3. Three trillion bucks....

is a bargain considering we've managed to:

1. Postpone the Iraqi civil war for a few years.

2. Thin out the Iraqi population by a few hundred thousand.

3. Thin out the ranks of the Army and Marines by about 5,000

4. Borrow much of the money from our friends, the Chinese.

5. Alienate most of the world.

6. Help nearly bankrupt our country.

A fuckin' bargain!

Of course... deep, dark, clusterfuck :sarcasm: intended.

[indepat]

6. Such small prices to pay for so much societal good and world harmony

Infinite :sarcasm: intended for the infinitely most destructive/divisive/wasteful American venture ever wrought upon its own people and the world in general.

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. A trillion is a number the average person cannot get their head around

A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years

Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.

The country has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.

Now make that dollars and you have an idea of how much of American treasure has been stolen because we were told to be terrified of guys with box cutters.

Someday, historians will remark about the madness that swept America into the abyss in the early 21st century.

[villager]

5. It's interesting to speculate *whose* historians will note this

not ours...