REPORT: At $648 Billion, Cost Of Iraq War Almost Equal To Vietnam
REPORT: At $648 Billion, Cost Of Iraq War Almost Equal To Vietnam
In his 1999 book, A Charge To Keep, President Bush said he had “learned the lessons of Vietnam” about “never again ask[ing] the military to fight a political war.” After launching the Iraq war, in April 2004, Bush rejected the analogy that Iraq was turning into a quagmire like Vietnam:
Q: How do you answer the Vietnam comparison?
BUSH: I think the analogy is false.
Last August, however, President Bush reversed course and embraced the Vietnam analogy, stating Vietnam taught us that “the price of America’s withdrawal” is steep and painful.
In a new report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reveals that the real similarity between Iraq and Vietnam is in the price of staying. In constant FY2008 dollars, the Vietnam war cost the U.S. $686 billion. The Iraq war, at just over five years old, is priced at $648 billion:
CRS notes, “All estimates are of the costs of military operations only and do not reflect costs of veterans benefits, interest on war-related debt, or assistance to allies.” Thus, the actual costs of the Iraq war are likely much greater, as Nobel Prize economist Joe Stiglitz reported in his book, The Three Trillion Dollar War.
It is unlikely, however, that the White House is concerned about these mounting costs. In October, the CBO conservatively said the wars may cost $2 trillion over the next decade. “I’m not worried about the number,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in response, calling the estimate “pure speculation.”
Indeed, “the price of America’s withdrawal” from Iraq may be an alternative that Bush should strongly consider.
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PULEEZE don’t show that phony AssKlown in his codpiece flight suit again, OK? I have just about got that one erased from my memory.
But it would make a great campaign ad; showing that next to one of McDepends’ standing next to one of his crashed airplanes.
Heh Heh
July 25th, 2008 at 4:17 pmGood thing Bush got all the tax breaks for the rich: That way he won’t have to pay for the war.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pmChimpy THINKS???
*thud*
July 25th, 2008 at 4:22 pmCRS notes, “All estimates are of the costs of military operations only and do not reflect costs of veterans benefits, interest on war-related debt, or assistance to allies.”
So these figures don’t reflect the cost of all the private contracts either, right?
Take these numbers and triple them, and we’ll have a more accurate reflection of the costs-to-date for “Bush’s Illegal Adventure.”
And by the way, what ever happened with the investigation into the “missing” $2 trillion Rumsfeld mentioned on 9/10/01? Or the missing $8.9 billion that was being hauled around in wheelbarrows in the early days of the occupation?
It’s no wonder the national debt has nearly doubles to $10 trillion under BushCo.
PEACE (I wish…)
July 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pmAs Spencers Mom points at this is just the tip of ice burg..they have been hiding the true cost, and of course gotta hide those billions going to Swiss bank accounts for Chimpie’s escape to Paraguay.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:39 pmThree wars of U. S. imperial aggression: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq; which one will the Fountain of Corporate Greed bless? Let it be me, said Vietnam, for I am the oldest of the three and the one that lasted the longest (1956 – 1974). Let it be me said Afghanistan, for I am the most clueless of the three: Afghanistan was unsuccessfully occupied by the 19th C. British, by the 20th C. Russians and by the 21st C. Americans. Let it be me said Iraq, for I am the most blatantly colonial and imperial: with vast oil fields just for the taking…
July 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pmBush proves to be a bigger failure than he was back at Arbusto and Harken Energy.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pmThe problem is $648 Billion Dollars (probably end up well over $1 Trillion) is way too deep for Daddy’s cronies or the Bin laden family to rescue junior.
So he’ll go to his place in Paraguay and Cheney will probably flee to Dubai,if he lives long enough.
Next winger meme: “Iraq is just one supplemental from exceeding the cost of Vietnam only because we withdrew from Vietnam instead of finishing the job and we should never withdraw from anything because that looks too much like admitting a mistake and you can never do that because it diminishes America’s stature and makes us look like a bunch of brie-eating surrender monkeys and we were defending democracy in Vietnam even though we supported a dictator who robbed his country blind and we were opposing the Russians even though they were barely giving the north any aid because Soviet doctrine was inherently distrustful of indigenous movements because they resisted Soviet control so if we had done it right and stayed forever Vietnam would have cost a bajillion times as much as Iraq and we all live happily ever after god bless america the end.”
Look for it on National Review Online any day now.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:46 pmYes, but how much money have the big corp. and defense contractors made on this war? That’s what really matters if your a conservative. Not how much money was spent but how much was made.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
If the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the limitations of the Executive with a side of Impeachment thrown in and no one reported on it… then did it happen at all?
C-Span will re-air it tonight, ALL 5+ hours at 8pm EST.
There are some really good legal opinions, sound bites and arguments…
.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:56 pmobamaismymessiah Says:
We didn’t need to spend that kind of money. We could have won this war with hope and change alone.
Or we could have not started it in the first place, tool.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:58 pmBush administration cannot spend a dime without the approval of the US Congress. That’s what the Constitution says.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:58 pmCongress shares the big part of the blame.
Beginning of year 2007 and until now, Democrats with a new Speaker are in control of the House,but the war spending did not go down ,in fact war spending went up in 2007 & 2008.
Unless Congress stop approving war spending bills,Bush will keep asking for more money.
It is the duty of the Congress to put an end to this huge and excessive war spending,and that starts with accomplishment and accountability.
In the end, we will be in the same place as before the occupation, except gas will be three times more expensive and thousands of soldiers, their families, and Iraqi lives will be altered forever. No WMD, no democracy in the Middle East, no safer at home, and the people who killed Americans on US soil still roam free. But, hey, freedom’s on the march, right?
July 25th, 2008 at 4:59 pmVictory? The only victory Iraq delivered was Bush’s re-election in 2004.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:04 pmYou mean bush’s re-appointment, don’t you?
July 25th, 2008 at 5:05 pmSilly trollie needs some attention!
What’s the matter? Mommy still out working and you’re getting lonely?
July 25th, 2008 at 5:08 pmDana doesn’t seem to worry much. She’s so sassy!
July 25th, 2008 at 5:13 pmIt’s expensive to build bombs that are smarter than the President. And that doesn’t include the cost of disarming Blackwater and getting our a$$es out of there relatively intact. One can’t help but wonder what will be left behind when the mobs want us… Oh. You. Tee. OUT!!!
July 25th, 2008 at 5:29 pmIn the 60s and 70s our military was self sufficient. We didn’t pay exhorbitant rates for food, shelter and transportation to private companies.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:13 pmBig difference.
At $648 Billion, Cost Of Iraq War Almost Equal To Vietnam
And what, exactly what, in the Iraq war, did US taxpayers get for their money?
July 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pm.
There is NOTHING on MSNBC, CNN, HUFFPO, ABC, NBC, CBS, Think Progress, Move On, Crooks and Liars, Firedog Lake, Open Left, TPM, AmericaBlog… about the House Judiciary Committee hearing that took place today regarding holding the current Administration accountable.
W H Y?
.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:33 pmA few websites are begining to cover it. Nothing much new though. Just another Friday afternoon under siege.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:46 pmToo much wasted on totally unnecessary killing.
Amerikkka, land of the fcuked.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:50 pmDana Purina ‘not worried’ about the cost of the Iraq Invasion?
No one could have predicted. No one!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm“And what, exactly what, in the Iraq war, did US taxpayers get for their money?”
They got the same thing that Bush’s outrageous deficit spending gave us:
A devalued currency. And red-hot hatred abroad.
At least the commodities speculators are doing well this year!
July 25th, 2008 at 9:34 pmZed Lefflin Says:
Obama must have gone over his portfolio this past week and learned that his Raytheon and Morton Thiocol stock was down a bit. His plan to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan will surly not hinder his retirement account. And the war goes on…………
I am glad someone else is seeing O-bomb-ya for what he is. Now let’s see, Telecom immunity, increased surveillance, 4th Amendment destruction, more war in Afghanistan, Threaten Iran, Faith Based initiatives, and Chevron/Archer Daniel Midland ethanol over Hydrogen Cells and Electric.
He used progressives to get the nomination, and now his corporatist/Likud/Israel/War sponsors are calling the shots. Really, McCain is so nuts and out of touch, and Bush so destructive, that you could run a Kielbasa against McCain and the Kielbasa would win.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:07 amIraq War’s Total Cost Nearing Vietnam’s Price Tag — Al Qaeda’s Cost To Start A War With The U.S. $500,000.
An interesting link at War News Updates
July 26th, 2008 at 1:04 pmhttp://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2008/07/iraq-wars-total-cost-nearing-vietnams.html
To Dick Cheney:
“And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?”
from The Dark Side of The Moon, Waters & Gilmour
July 27th, 2008 at 10:29 pmThe ultimate cost of the Iraq war could have converted
July 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pmthe US to wind power and all that Iraq oil would not have
been needed.
Lets see my choice is John McCain or that smart black man Barack Obama?
McCain who does not know how to use a computer but is willing to learn if we elect him – I’ll just vote for that smart black man.
My Choices are: John McCain who says the economic downturn is psychological? – Na! I’ll vote for the smart black man.
McCain who says you are better off under George Bush? – Nope I’ll vote for the smart black man.
Mc Cain who wants to continue killing more people looking for weapons of mass destruction that do not exist? – Gee! I’ll vote for the smart black man.
McCain who believes that we should stay the course but is not willing to support the people he puts in harms way. – I’ll take a chance on the smart black man.
Should I vote for a man that does not know that 9-11 was caused by Osama Bin Laden not Sedam Hussein? – Easy! I’ll vote for the smart black man.
Vote for the man who does not know if the Sunnis or Sheits are our enemies? – No way I’ll vote for the smart black man.
Vote for the man who helped put our government on the China, Saudi Arabia credit card? – Not a chance I’ll vote for the smart black man.
Vote for the man with the worst temper in the Senate to have his finger on the nuclear button? – No way – I’ll vote for the smart black man.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:17 pmJESUS WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
September 5th, 2008 at 4:01 pmWHAT? Equled to the Vietnam war? <— THAT’S A SIGN SHOWING THAT WE NEED TO BRING OUR TROOPS BACK!!!! http://tinyurl.com/d4ew3f
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm