How Much Have the Wars Cost? Would You Believe 6 Trillion, or Half Our Entire Debt!

[grahamhgreen]

"Nobel Prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard budget guru Linda J. Bilmes are revising their original $3 trillion war cost estimate. As Bilmes reports, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are at least 25 percent costlier than previous projections."
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Already, we've spent more than $1 trillion in Iraq, not counting the $700 billion consumed each year by the Pentagon budget. And spending in Iraq and Afghanistan now comes to more than $3 billion weekly, making the wars a major reason for record-level budget deficits.

Two years ago, Joseph Stiglitz and I published The Three Trillion Dollar War in which we estimated that the budgetary and economic costs of the war would reach $3 trillion.

Taking new numbers into account, however, we now believe that our initial estimate was far too conservative—the cost of the wars will reach between $4 trillion and $6 trillion."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/10/27/the-economic-crisis-and-the-hidden-cost-of-the-wars.html
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And this was before the Libyan debacle.

There is a pernicious and deadly attack on our country - it's the military budget, and it's time to cut it by 2/3's.

[aquart]

1. Are you trying to destroy Halliburton and Blackwater?

If so, can I help?

[Bozita]

2. Ike was right. That's why the GOPers never even mention him

Ike broke all of the GOP commandments with that speech about the military-industrial complex.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Barring the Norway massacre along with the rw fundies who stow away guns, nerve gas,

explosives and so forth I feel safer knowing that this obscene amount of money is being spent on my peace of mind. I feel safer.... you????????????????????????

[socialshockwave]

4. End 'em.

Deficit = done.

No need to destroy SS.

[David Gill]

7. That money's gone...

You would need a time machine to solve the debt that way.

[socialshockwave]

8. True, but

It would stop you from spending future money on said wars.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. And, we lost or are losing them.

[Yo_Mama]

6. Well, no.

Here's some better data:
http://costofwar.com/en/about/counters/

[grahamhgreen]

9. I think

Those are direct costs only, not including ancillary costs like taking care Of wounded vets for the rest of their lives, etc.

[saras]

10. And almost all the money, on all scales, goes to the wrong people...