:mad: WASHINGTON, Aug 31 The US war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report issued today.
The report, entitled The Iraq Quagmire from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus, both liberal, anti-war organisations, put the cost of current operations in Iraq at $US5.6 billion per month.
This breaks down to almost $US186 million a day.
By comparison, the average cost of US operations in Vietnam over the eight-year war was $US5.1 billion per month, adjusting for inflation,'' it said. As a proportion of gross domestic product, the Vietnam War was more significant, costing 12 per cent of annual GDP, compared to two per cent for the Iraq War. However, economists said the Iraq war is being financed with deficit spending and may nearly double the projected federal budget deficit over the next 10 years. The US Congress has approved four spending bills for Iraq so far with funds totalling $US204.4 billion and is expected soon to authorise a further $US45.3 billion. Broken down per person in the United States, the cost so far is $US727, making the Iraq War the most expensive military effort in the past 60 years,’’ wrote authors Phyllis Bennis and Erik Leaver.
As public support for the war drops, more politicians, including some Republicans, have begun to compare it to Vietnam.
The latest was Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honours for his service in Vietnam.
He said earlier this month that the United States was ``locked into a bogged-down problem, not dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam.’’
The total cost of the Vietnam War in current dollars was around $US600 billion and there are some experts who believe the Iraq War will eventually surpass that total.
For instance, the Congressional Budget Office estimated this year that if the United States managed to reduce its troop deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan to 50,000 by 2010, the cost over the next decade would be an additional $US393 billion, which when added to the dollars already spent would exceed the Vietnam total.
While there are far fewer troops in Iraq than there were in Vietnam at the height of that conflict, the weapons they use are more expensive and they are paid more.
The report also highlighted the human costs of the war: the deaths of an estimated 23,000-27,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 2,000 US military personnel and civilian contractors; the social costs of domestic programs slashed to meet the budget shortfall; the loss of income to reservists and National Guard troops who spend long periods away from their careers and businesses as well as the anticipated costs of treating returning troops for mental health conditions as a result of their service.
Now subtract this from the money the US have made from the Oil - the real reason for the invasion.
an absolute disgrace!!!
While this war, engineered by the Bush administration bulshit artists so that Cheney’s Halliburton and Rumsfeld’s Bechtel can dip their hands into America’s pockets, continues to kill American youth, not to mention thousands of Iraqis, it is worth pondering what 250.8 Billion Dollars and the mis-deployed National Guard could do for the people of Lousiana and Mississippi.
Note that the whistle blower who revealed that Halliburton got 10 billion USD in no-bid contracts was demoted by the Bush administration.
Among the Halliburton beauties that have leaked out so far- selling gas to the US forces for 4 bucks a gallon after buying it next door in Kuwait for 15 cents and overcharging the military for food services by 150 million in the first couple of months.
In case anyone needs guidance, Al-Quida is in Afganistan/Pakistan.
Add somewhere in there the armaments industry, too!
If the invasion were for oil alone, Americans wouldn’t be paying $3.00/gallon for gas. Saddam Hussein was a terrorist-harboring killer. If America is going to fight a global war on terror, leaving Saddam Hussein in power would be foolhardy. It had to be done and I’m glad we did it.
Killer sure but not high on the list of terrorist harbourers- that distinction goes to Saudi Arabia.
You think America is safer with Iraq as it is today. Personally, I think today was likely to be remembered as the start of civil war there.
If it is to be American foreign policy to remove all the murdering psychos running countries out there, America will be real busy
I agree with charlie, I wonder where those funds could be spent for new orleans etc, it’s goinga cost america a small fortune to rebuild.
And all this time I was thinking that Saudi Arabia were our friends.
they just give the US oil
i beleive the acutal saudi crown family supports the us, but no one else does in the country for the most part.
If humanitarian missions were the desire of the Bush administration, there are far better countries to go after. Unfortunately, most of them aren’t sitting on banks of oil. And I’m sure he was harboring terrorists right beside his WMDs…which is why we can’t find those ties. Just remember, the terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq. As for our price for gas, you’re not thinking long term.
if people from the us think they are getting hit hard by gas prices then come over to europe.1 litre of gas is now €1.12 which equates to $1per litre.the future looks as if it will reach €1.50 very soon
*just a note on bush.what was his business before the presidency…hhmmmmm i wonder
If Bush was concerned with oil, Venezuela would have been a much better target. I don’t think Iraq was the first country that needed to be dealt with (N. Korea takes that), but I hardly think this war had anything to do with Halliburton or oil.
Unfortunately, the US doesn’t have the mass transit infrastructure that most European countries too. Outside of NY, Chicago, and Boston, I can’t think of any cities with good mass transit. We are too dependent on oil and refuse to accept alternate fuel sources or anything less than the biggest SUV. Most Americans don’t understand the basic laws of supply and demand and therefore, don’t understand that we need a long term, significant reduction in our demand to make a difference.
The One… you’re partly right… the Saudi royal family is friends to the Bush family, not America.
Now Dick (great name for him) Cheney is coming to Alberta to tour the oilsands & meet with the government.
Maybe if they don’t agree with him, he’ll say we are a terrorist regime & invade us?!?
It’s a shame that the poor people left in the S. US will have to wait for the gov to find $$ (& George Jr to come back from vacation) to be rebuilt because the trillions of $$ have been used in Iraq
I was bored so I wrote a rhyme about this
America’s desperate greed for oil,
Does race relations forever spoil.
Through rhetoric happens sense erasure,
And eternal warfare with Eastasia.
On t’other side is preached persecution,
Leading to widespread execution.
For which the only likely solution,
Is an education revolution.
Never will there be stories of more woe,
Than when such madness is status quo. 
‘What luck for rulers that men do not think’ - Adolf Hitler
I suspect military targets are selected for many reasons, pragmatic and moral, and usually in this order. We continue to criticize the US position in all this, but what is Canada’s? We have become inconsequential in world affairs, unable to protect our borders, or our sovereignty in the North.
At the completion of WWII we had the 4th largest standing army in the world, with a reputation of "standing up for what’s right?” Now we just sit back criticize, and squander our wealth and energy on “important issues” the gun registry (major threat to security), same sex marriage (we really have to debate this issue?), and the sponsorship scandal (I guess these dollars will not be available to help the victims of the hurricane in the golf coast!).
We have in power, right now, in Canada, one of the most corrupt governments in our history. We are unable to call an election because people are too tired (apathetic and pathetic) to due their civic duty and remove this government from power. In this country there use to be consequences for actions.
It amazes me how a generation who had to fight for the right to protect are way of life, and the rights of others, could spawn such a generation!!!
Canada also used to lead the way in humanitarian aid and support, known around the world as a leader in this area. We have become self absorbed critics, with little pride in our international reputation as a leader in the promotion of democracy and responsibility.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.
-John Stuart Mill
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
-Edmund Burke
There’s a book called the “Iron Triangle”. It’s a bit of a boring read but some interesting stuff about the Carlyle group. Both Bush’s, Rumsfeld Cheney, James Baker (if I remember) and a bunch of former world leaders.
It’s all about contracts in oil, haliburton and arms sales.
These 2 leaders in the states are going to leave in a couple more years and they’re going to be so much richer because of the crap they pulled while they were in power.
I’m on another book that’s about a year old called “Against all Enemies” by Richard Clarke. Great read. Only about 1/4 the way so far but very interesting stuff in there.
The Bush Adm did go after Venezuela but their coup failed (and, of course, they denied having anything to do with it)
Fundamentalist Religeous zealot and Bush supporter, Pat Robertson suggested “taking out” Chaves. (Wouldn’t that qualify as a Fatwa?)
After international outrage, Robertson claimed that he was somehow misquoted. (Apparently, what he meant was that he wanted to date him)
Canada’s position? The war in Iraq is illegal by UN definition and all accepted international norms.
Canada was applauded for opposing a similar pre-emptive military action by Britain and France in the Suez in 1956, with the support, I might add, of the US. That’s where our reputation as a world leader came from and why Lester Pearson won the Nobel Prize.
Sadly, corruption in Gov’t is pretty constant, though sometimes more visible than at other times, but it’s galling to dismiss international protocols and claim corruption and decay in Canada is the reason for not supporting the US invasion of Iraq, even though Canada supports the legitimate US effort in Afganistan.
Edmond Burke might just as easily apply his quote to Haliburton’s war, if he were here to add context.
This all harks back to the days of the Ugly American in South America, summed up by Harry Truman’s confrontation over a particularly egregious Dictator the US was propping up. His questioner gasped: “But he’s a Son of a Bitch!” To which Truman replied: “Yes, but he’s OUR Son of a Bitch!”
You refer to our military history of action. That action in 1939 was AGAINST, not in support of, the invasion of another sovereign nation.