Iraq war price tag will soon top $500 billion.
“The bitter fight over the latest Iraq spending bill has all but obscured a sobering fact: The war will soon cost more than $500 billion. That’s about ten times more than the Bush administration anticipated before the war started four years ago, and no one can predict how high the tab will go.”
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52 Responses to “Iraq war price tag will soon top $500 billion.”
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Worth every penny!!! NOT!!!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pmMaybe you should put the ranch up for sale George, you owe the American people big time………..
May 1st, 2007 at 1:16 pmAw, heck! It’s not like George or Dick have to pay for it.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:18 pmIs that 500B by factoring the falling or should I say COMPLETELY TANKING DOLLAR? If you factor in the current level of decline then we are actually looking at $800B and that will pick up steam as well!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:20 pmten times more than the Bush administration anticipated before the war started four years ago
GDumbya and his administration don’t anticipate. That would be too much like planning – another foreign concept to them.
Nope. They guess . . . and, when that doesn’t work, they throw darts.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:21 pmI’m sure it’ll get higher, and higher, and higher. it never ends. Countless thousands killed overseas, liberties violated at home, and on top of it, they spend so much on this awful war that it could bring us to the point of economic ruin.
Some interesting reading - Wars and Debts and Taxes. Oh My!
http://www.populistamerica.com/ wars_and_debts_and_taxes_oh_my
May 1st, 2007 at 1:21 pmKnowing the govt, does anybody believe the dollar figure?
I gotta believe it is at least twice that. (I’m sure they don’t look at the damaged/exhausted equipment, long term care for the wounded soldiers,etc,,)
May 1st, 2007 at 1:22 pm500 Billion = Half Trillion.
Somehow the true financial impact can only be appreciated if you speak in terms of trillion and not billions
May 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pmGood thing it’s not real money or we’d be bankrupt.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pmMy God thats $2.5 for every barrel of Oil left in Iraq
they have 216 Billion Barrels of Oil
never mind reconstruction charges on top of that and new cars all round
MY GOD IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER JUST TO BUY THE OIL ON THE OPEN MARKETS
May 1st, 2007 at 1:30 pmThese are just the allocated costs. No one talks about the forward costs of this war: the hundreds of billions that will be necessary for replacement of the equipment that has been worn out in the desert, the long-term care of the wounded, etc.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:31 pmUh, no it wont. Not if Bush keeps vetoing the spending.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pmThe Cut Taxes & Spendthrift Republicans don’t understand that War is Expensive. It’s not John Wayne and Glory. It’s about choosing between guns & butter. It’s paying to blow things up and then paying again to rebuild. It’s a lose-lose situation. Which is why the Europeans didn’t want to join the Coalition.
Of course, the last time the Americans suffered this kind of infrastruction damage was during the Civil War of the 1860s. America had a relatively cost-free experienc –indeed, profitable experience for some– during the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, and Korea. Vietnam cost America because it went on so long without any tangible benefits to the US economy and America pretended it didn’t have to tighten its belt to pay for it. Then came the Oil Crisis of 1973 and the Dow-Jones fell by 50% in one year from a record high. Bush is playing with the same kind of fire and it could end with stagflation, skyhigh gas prices, and the demise of the Republican party.
Good work, Mr President.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pmSome say by the time you pay for wounded veterans for life and borrowing costs from the Chinese its really a trillion Dollars
May 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pmWar involves the economic fallacy of the broken shop window. It looks like there’s plenty of economic activity, but it’s really waste and lost opportunity.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:37 pmNewsflash:
Murdoch cornering the wingnut market with bid for the WSJ.
http://www.bloomberg.com/ apps/ news?pid=20601087&sid=aiZPBKJNsD48&refer=home
May 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pmBut it is what the administration anticipated. I forget his damn name, but one of the administration’s people estimated that total costs could hit the trillion mark. He was either forced to resign for was fired. Anyone else remember the specifics with that?
May 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pmI think anyone that wants this war to continue should pay for it. LIKe Bush, Cheney, Billie Boy Kristol, ETC and the 30 % that still love Bush and his War.
If OLd Bush Veto this spending bill than the congress should start impeachment for both Cheney and Old Bush.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pmWar is profitable. Ike warned us about the confluence of the “military-industrial complex” fifty years ago, and we see the fruits of this around us more and more each day. Interesting article I found in Raw Story today entitled “They sold out the world for an F-16 sale.” Note: many of the people in this story (which relates to Pakistan’s nuclear bomb development) are the same folks running the country now.
http://rawstory.com/ news/ 2007/ They_sold_out_world_for_F16_0426.html
May 1st, 2007 at 1:41 pmThe real cost of the Iraq War/Occupation is 2.2 TRILLION!
…Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph
Stiglitz and Harvard’s Linda Bilmes released a report
that took a wider view….It tallied items
such as the costs of health care for wounded veterans,
increased recruitment spending for a hard-up Pentagon,
and the opportunity costs of more productive public
investments.
…Following Congressional Budget
Office predictions for troop deployment, the report
considers the possibilities of full U.S. withdrawal by
2010 to 2015. All told, the two economists put the cost
to the U.S. at between $1 trillion (their most
“conservative” estimate) and $2.2 trillion (their
“moderate” one).
It really doesn’t matter if its 2.2 trillion or 2.2 quadrillion because we don’t have the money to pay for any of this. We’re FLAT BROKE. We can’t sell enough treasuries to the Chinese to afford this occupation. Bush’s tax cut for millionaires must be reversed IMMEDIATELY as a first step to deal with our out of control budget/national debt.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:41 pmhooray for the Great White America!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:41 pmDumb_Fox,
He’s not just cornering the “wingnut” market, he’s cornering the market. Looking to turn us all into wingnuts.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:46 pmTHIS IS PATENTLY ‘AMORAL’ WHEN PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE HOMELESS, STARVING, AND KATRINA VICTIMS STILL HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN ANY BENEFITS. AMORAL AND PATENTLY EVIL!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:49 pm#16 Dum Fox…Murdoch wants the editorial page of the WSJ badly. He has promised to retain the integrity of the newspaper. How can a man who knows nothing of integrity make such a promise?
The newspaper is to be a “companion” to the soon to be aired Fox business channel which will compete with CNBC. We know how Fox twists and distorts regular news. God only knows how they’ll report financial news!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:49 pmThis 2.2 Trillion dollar war is tanking this country economically….soon China will own us outright and we can say goodbye to the good ole’ US of A.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:50 pmThis money could make Social Security and Medicare solvent indefinitely and rebuild New Orleans. Instead is was squander along with much human life.
Bush should be punished for leading us into Iraq.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:50 pmHow do the reich wingnuts call themselves “conservative” by any stretch of the imagination? Duh….what a bunch of village idiots!
May 1st, 2007 at 1:51 pmI have read from many sources, none of which I can recall at the moment, that the cost factor was in excess of 2 trillion….Like the war dead count, it is far less than they (bush cabal) will allow to be published..Many of our lost service people that die immediately after leaving Iraq are not counted, been told it is twice the figure we are told, same with wounded….Blessings
May 1st, 2007 at 1:52 pm$500,000,000,000
a mere pitance compared to the oil company profits they stand to make with the Iraqi Oil Bill currently stalled in the Iraqi Parliament.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:55 pmAndrew Natrios told Ted Koppel on Nightline that the war wouldn’t cost the American Taxpayer more than $1.7 billion.
Watch him repeat it over and over as Ted Koppel gives him chance after chance of changing the amount.
The interview between Koppel and Natrios is included in this video called Boondoggle, which is about Bechtel’s Big Dig fiasco in Boston.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:57 pmI hope you trolls have lots of grandchildren who will be paying for this.
May 1st, 2007 at 2:06 pmWe’re headed for fiscal catastrophy unless we change course immediately. Here are five simple suggestions:
1) Reverse Bush’s tax cuts for millionaires.
2) Stop the Iraq Occupation
3) Close loopholes allowing corporations to avoid paying taxes
4) Hire more IRS agents to go after unpaid billions in corporate taxes
5) Cut defense budget immediately by 20%
Why aren’t any of the Presidential candidates addressing this issue. Our financial problems dwarf any threat from Al-Qaida.
May 1st, 2007 at 2:18 pmGood one RUCerious, may I add…The greedy must become the breedie’s..Just made up a new word…LOL..Blessings
May 1st, 2007 at 2:22 pmYou know it’s damning news when the trolls won’t even touch a specific topic.
May 1st, 2007 at 3:07 pmre#26
Social Security and Medicare are SOLVENT!
The problem is that the government keeps spending their yearly surplues in exchange for WORTHLESS Treasury IOUs, instead of putting the surplus in banks and letting that money earn more money.
May 1st, 2007 at 3:19 pm#13 “…nd the demise of the Republican party.”
At least there is some light at the end of your proverbial tunnel…
May 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pmWar is not profitable in the business sense. It’s profitable in the sense of racketeering. It’s theft. It’s blackmail. Any accountant can show you that wars leave only massive debts, capital losses, and missed opportunities. Those who profit during a war, do so at the expense of the taxpayer and the victims of the war. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
May 1st, 2007 at 4:03 pmThe 51% of morons in this country who voted for Bush in 2004 can pay for it.
May 1st, 2007 at 4:14 pmB A S T A R D S !!
Vinnie is so right - where are the thread wreckers now?
These are just the allocated costs. No one talks about the forward costs of this war: the hundreds of billions that will be necessary for replacement of the equipment that has been worn out in the desert, the long-term care of the wounded, etc.
Comment by enough — May 1, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
I heard an estimate of one TRILLION for the disabled vets alone. Which means that it’ll probably be higher. It’s enough to make me literally sick to my stomach thinking about all of the things that that money could have been spent on productively. Such as alternative fuels research!!! We could have employed tens of thousands of people in THIS country AND made some much needed progress on energy research.
May 1st, 2007 at 5:20 pmAs I learned yesterday that another friend has terminal cancer, I wondered if all the money spent in Iraq would have brought a cure. What a waste of lives and treasure!
May 1st, 2007 at 6:00 pmWay to go USA.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:22 amI hope you all are ready to throw a frenzy when they start to talk about really shutting down the internet, I’m gonna freak, big time!!!, it’ll be riotting in the streets, even from the closet computer hermits who’ll eventually see the sun.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 amAnything big gov can do to keep us from learning from each other and The Alex Jones… http://www.infowars.com
Holistically speaking it is not a real cost. The money stays in America after all.
You are just taking the money from the taxpayers and giving it to Haliburton :)
I can’t see how things will ever change.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:50 am…Hmm Only a $2000 price for every man , woman and child in the Country.
Not bad eh!!
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:54 amPerspective on War costs:
http://www.davidjarvis.ca/essays/iraq-war.shtml
May 3rd, 2007 at 2:27 amThe figure of $500B of course doesn’t cover the immeasurable cost incurred to the country, people and society of Iraq. The many thousands of people dead, and those who fled the country, will weight heavily on the country once (someday) the violence subsides and society tries to rebuild. I hate putting a pricetag on life, but since we are talking about $500 billion, i’d say that this is an oversimplified calculation.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:34 amDoes this figure factor in the profit that will be made from stealing Iraq’s oil wealth?
May 3rd, 2007 at 5:21 amDoes anyone recall that in 2002that Lawrence Lindsey, a White House economic adviser, was fired in 2002 for predicting that the Iraq war would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, when at the time the White House was proclaiming the war wouldn’t cost more than $50 billion?
http://www.sacobserver.com/ news/ commentary/ 070204/ cost_of_war.shtml
Ahh, history, its such a beautiful thing
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:01 amI’m a realist. The US Gov’t doesn’t have 500B to spend friviously. They borrowed this 500B (just look at the national Debt/Deficit). And at a 5% interest rate on this debt, they are going to owe 25 Billion Dollars per year on INTEREST on this war debt. For that kind of money, the US gov’t could have fixed its public education system for the next 20 years.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:56 am500 billion divided by 301754369 (the current US population) = $1,657 each. Anyone who wants to continue the war can pay up now.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:10 amIt makes no difference unit we kick out both dems and reps and give the goverment back to us, we the people
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 pmpeople this is war, you cant predict it. we dont only protect america. we protect other nations too.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:57 pm