War Costs: Even Worse Than You Think

[marmar]

from The Nation:



BLOG | Posted 10/24/2007 @ 3:08pm
War Costs: Even Worse Than You Think
Matthew Blake


The federal government will spend $2.4 trillion by 2017 for waging the "War on Terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was the most mind-boggling statistic to come from the Congressional Budget Office's estimate released today on the rapidly rising costs of Bush's war.

The number assumes that the current 200,00 U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will be reduced to 75,000 by 2013 and remain at that level by 2017. At a hearing of the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, CBO Director Peter Orzag described just how much money we're talking about:

-$11 billion a month is being spent in funding for Afghanistan and Iraq-- of which $9 billion goes to Iraq. In 2003, President Bush's Budget Director, Mitch Daniels, estimated the cost of the Iraq War would be $50 to $60 billion.

-Of the $2.4 trillion figure, $1.7 trillion is the projected war costs over the next 10 years. Nearly $900 billion of this is for actually fighting the wars, while $700 billion will be used to pay off interest on the money borrowed to finance the wars.

-Bush is asking for $196 billion in war funding in next years' budget. This is more money than the total budgets for the Department of Agriculture, Justice Department, FBI and Environmental Protection Agency.

The CBO did offer an alternative, withdrawal-based budget scenario where by 2010 there would only be 30,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This would bring war costs to $570 billion by 2017. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15&pid=245831

[no_hypocrisy]

1. And you know what has to be done under these circumstances:

MORE TAX CUTS!!!!!

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Remember a few years back when conservatives made fun of

the Russians for bankrupting their nation fighting a futile war in Afghanistan? Those stupid soviets caused the collapse of their own society by spending themselves into oblivion. You'd never catch capitalists doing anything to insane. WE understand money and the markets, and know how to cut our losses.

:banghead:

[katty]

3. of course, it alway is..bush breakout yr checkbook-you pay for it