Gates: $700 billion price tag for WOT is much lower than it should be

[sabra]

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006393945

Pentagon Reminds Americans They're Paying A Fraction For War Than They Used To

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - When Congress and the average taxpayer see the bill for the global War on Terror, $700 billion, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that number is far lower than it should be, when looking at American history.

Secretary Gates says the initial "sticker shock at their combined price tags," pales in comparison to what Americans used to pay, as a percentage of their taxes and in relation to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), during World War II, the Cold War, or even during the Vietnam War.

According to government records, in 1945 as America fought the Axis Powers, the Department of Defense, or the War Department as it was called back then, was using 34.5 percent of the U.S. GDP to support "regime change" in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

The Cold War was also a drain on American resources, and in 1968 as soldiers fought a "global network" communist militants in Asia, the U.S. was spending an estimated 8.9 percent of its GDP on Defense.

...

In the end, Gates says, "The costs of defending the nation are high. The only thing costlier, ultimately, would be to fail to commit the resources necessary to defend our interests around the world and to fail to prepare for the inevitable threats of the future."

[Straight Shooter]

1. But we are not "defending the nation." We are aggressively intimidating other nations.

"Defending our nation" implies that we are creating safety and security with that expense. That just isn't so. We are creating the exact opposite result.

Spin away, Gates, don't make yourself dizzy with your self-serving rationalizations.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

2. Do they feed these people extra salty nuts

to create a powerful thirst for that kool-aid?

Great post!

[Monkeyman]

4. Na they are nuts

[rodeodance]

3. this is the same ADM who compares WWII deaths with troops lost in

the current war also!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LSK]

5. blah blah blah Saddam = Hitler blah blah blah mushroom cloud blah

*yawn*

[Old and In the Way]

6. What a stupid argument to make.

Is he saying, "given the total benefits, $700BB is a bargin?" Where does this administration find these morons.....and why does Congress approve these appointments?


What Gates doesn't say is what if we bankrupt and ruin our country from fighting illegal wars of folly? Whats left to defend if we destroy ourselves in the process?