Two Trillion Dollars Down the Drain

The war budget has certainly gone up for the neocon administration. A recent report by the Christian Science Monitor summarizes the findings of several financial and war analysts. For example, regarding the costs of war, including healthcare for the soldiers, Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner, and Harvard Lecturer Linda Bilmes states that

"Even taking a conservative approach, we have been surprised at how large they are," the study said, referring to total war costs. "We can state, with some degree of confidence, that they exceed a trillion dollars."

However, even more interesting is Financial Times's Martin Wolf's claim that the Stiglitz-Bilmes study ignores "critical data". However, Wolf's intention was not to bait the study as an overstatement, because the other costs that would be a burden to the U.S. government involve

costs borne by other countries, including those created by higher oil prices; costs consequent upon creating a link between Iraq and the jihadi movement that did not, on the evidence, previously exist; costs of increasing the income of some of the world's least desirable regimes, above all, Iran's; costs of throwing away the option to fight ground wars elsewhere or to fight in Iraq later on, under better conditions, better information and a better state of preparedness; costs of enraging many Muslims; costs to the effectiveness of the US military; costs of fragmenting the western alliance; the loss of Iraqi lives; the cost to US credibility of going to war on a false premise; and the cost to the US reputation of the torture scandals.

The Bush administration doesn't seem to get over the fact that these war-time incidences are going to increase the U.S. national debt. Face it, Bush. The war is over. There is no way that Iraq can be fixed with even a quadrillion dollars. Funding the war and increasing the war machine will only make it worse and will turn more Iraqis against the occupation. Then again, it could be a good thing should the Iraqis unite and overthrow the occupation and the puppet government.

So, to sum it up, face it, Bush. You just gambled on the biggest and most dangerous roulette table in history and you lost. Stop putting more of your nation's money down the drain. Get over it.

Salaam, from Saracen