How Much Longer Can We Affford The Bush43 Iraq War?

Hidden Costs of Iraq War

In 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the United States Congress that the War in Iraq would cost about $50 b. He also said that the oil in Iraq would pay for that war, implying that the US would get a “free ride” in the Second Punitive Expedition to Iraq, my label for this mis-adventure. Whether misinformed or misinforming is open to debate.

Instead, it turns out that cost estimate was not the only thing about which Mr. Rumsfeld was grossly mistaken. From March 18, 2003, May, 2007, the War in Iraq has cost Americans $275,000,000.00 a day. Each and every day. And there is more coming, much more. Some estimates put “Running Costs” through 2008 to exceed $600 b. See www.costofwar.com.

Let us understand the difference in “Running” costs and “Long Term” costs our leaders on both sides prefer to ignore. These terms are self-explanatory. So far the largest amounts of the Iraq War Supplemental Budget currently under debate in Congress is in “Running” costs and almost none relates to the “Long Term” costs.

Historically, the Department of Defense budget is 60% of the discretionary budget. The discretionary budget is differentiated from the entitlements budget. Entitlements amount to the largest portion of the annual budget. Congress cannot alter the entitlement payments, whereas in the discretionary budget, Congress can change the amounts. Social security and Medicare are the 2 largest entitlements. Social Security and Medicare are both operating in the black and will for the next couple of years. This little one sided colloquy is meant to establish that 60% of the National Debt is due to Defense spending.

We - the US taxpayers - pay over $300 b. a year to service the National Debt. “Service” is a term of art, meaning we pay only the accrued interest and we are not paying down the debt. This works because the US has the best durn credit rating in the whole world. Way over 800 points. On that basis the part of the interest payment allocable to Defense is about $180 b. a year. No small amount in its own right. My calculations show the US actually spends about $700 to $800 b. a year on defense and past defense bills that remain unpaid. A sharp contrast from the $455 b. Defense budget for 2007 which is so frequently mentioned but which only covers about half of the real cost.

IRAQ
The soldiers basic death benefit is $100,000.00. Each serviceman or woman can purchase up to $300,000 additional life insurance coverage. Using the lesser number the amount paid out on 3,400 KIA is $340 m.

For every KIA there are 8 wounded or injured. Upwards of 50% of the wounded are “severely” wounded. Men and women that would have died in the last war but who are being saved by advanced medical techniques, well trained staffs and prompt evacuation. All of that costs money. Lots of money. It is estimated the Iraq War has cost $125 b. in medical expenses through the end of 2006.

The VA is receiving an average of 50,000 claims for disability each year. Disability awards vary from 10% to 100%, and in annual payments from as little as $1,380 (10%) to more than $33,680 (100%). Based on the ages of the men and women suffering disabilities, it is projected the disability portion of the war debt could run between $70 b. and $150 b. over the next 50 years.

The VA’s current budget is $34 b. but the highly knowledgeable and deeply involved DAV - Disabled American Veterans - contends the budget needs to be raised by 50%, to $51 b. Based on what we have learned about Walter Reed Hospital, the DAV claim sounds right on. Cost of medical care for some of the most egregiously injured men and women is running $250,000 a year for each. All medical care - not including disability payments - may exceed $250 b. over the next 50 years.

Equipage. Over 90% of the equipment now in Iraq will be left in Iraq when our troops come home. It will not be worth the cost to ship it back to the US. If it is not already worn out, it will be. The US is already buying replacement equipment and paying a premium price for every item because we need to quickly restock. We have robbed the state National Guards and Reserves of all usable equipment. We are in one heck of a mess! Time is of the essence. Overtime, 7 day work weeks. It’s a good time for the defense industry. This cost is variously estimated at $50 b. to more than $100 b. If VP Cheney’s company Halliburton is a contractor, you can be sure it will exceed $100 b.

It is very hard to accurately project costs of any war and of this Iraq War over long periods of time. This is why the estimates vary widely, from $1.2 t. to $2 t. as the cost of the Iraq War.

Let’s hope the Iraq War is worth it. Just daydream what we could have done here in the United States of America with an extra $1 t. Thank you George W. Affectionately known by your friends as Dumbya. You gave us a good screwing. We’ll never forget you.

[edit on 5/23/2007 by donwhite]

Why roof your own house when you can destroy the neighbors house? That way you stay ahead of the 'Jones' next door.

Yes, let's vote to say well done, our grandchildren will be paying for this adventure.

Well maybe that is why Bush and the democrat congress wants to make 12 million illegals, legal so they can help pay the interest in the biggest deficit ever to face this nation.

Well I am just been sarcastic, sometimes I feel that once this administration gets its goal in the middle east and the private interest and the cronies get their wishes they are just going to said, " screw america".

posted by marg6043

Well maybe that is why Bush and the Democratic congress wants to make 12 million illegals, legal so they can help pay the interest in the biggest deficit ever to face this nation. [Edited by Don W]

I hate this law but I want those people who are here to be legalized at once, and phooey on going back and paying $5,000. That will open up all those people to Mafia-type loan sharks and repeat our mistake with Prohibition of the 1920s. I hate that WALL. I’m embarrassed to live in a country that surrounds itself with a wall? Did not the Chinese find it would not work? Yes, it tends to keep people IN better than it keeps people OUT.

[edit on 6/3/2007 by donwhite]

A WW2 Buff? Here’s A MUST READ! “The Path To Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in WWII” by Douglas Porch, 2004. Not overly long at 793 pages, it deals with the subject at the divisional level. It turns out the Mediterranean Theater is a microcosm of the greater “Crusade in Europe” that Ike wrote about in his required reading work. Author Porch deals with the African campaign, the never to end British-American rivalry and the constant interference in military operations by Churchill, Roosevelt and other politicians. Where before I was not sure if Overlord’s Eisenhower did not in fact walk on water, now I see he got his shoes wet. Real wet! And Hitler was not the lunatic he is so often portrayed on History Channel. It is essential to understand the Italian Campaign and why Great Britain was so much committed to the defeat of the smaller Afrika Korps. I recommend it.

[edit on 7/14/2007 by donwhite]

There is no cost too high to keep America safe.

You know why we haven't had an attack on America since 9/11/01?

It's because of Bush's handling of the situation since. That and Al-Queda is waiting for America to give up, just like we did in Viet Nam. They know they have Democrats on their side spewing terrorist propaganda, and they know it's just a matter of time.

Democrat and Terrorists talking points.

Too many soldiers are dying.
We are spending too much money.
The war is unwinable.
Troops should be withdrawn immediately.

Victory in Iraq is devistating for Democrats and Terrorists. Both are heavily invested in defeat. Every other day Harry Reid is saying we already lost the war.

After all they are fighting the same enemy...George Bush.

The war will continue untill there are no more bodies to ship over there.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters Saturday that the Iraqi army and police were capable of maintaining security when American troops leave. “We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want,” al-Maliki said.

Those comments appeared to undercut President Bush’s contention that the 155,000 U.S. troops must remain in Iraq because the Iraqis are not capable of providing for their own security. Al-Maliki’s remarks appeared to reflect Iraqi frustration with American complaints that the country’s religious and ethnic communities have failed to move fast enough to enact power-sharing deals - the key to long-term stability after more than four years of war. From a story By Robert H. Reid - Associated Press, Monday, July 16, 2007

Who would know better when it is time for America forces to vacate the premises than our own hand picked “LEADER” of the Iraqi people? Mr al Maliki. It seems everyone in the world knows this except our own Maximum Leader Herr Bush43. Let’s hope he catches up before he adds more futile deaths to the 3610 KIA already recorded on his (death) Watch. This following his pompous declartoin of "Mission Accomplished" on May 1, 2003. And tata following his ILLEGAL attack on a country at peace with the US, on March 18, 2003. The deadly Gang of Four: Bush43, VP Cheney, Herr Oberfuhrer Rumsfeld and the Birmingham Songbird, Condo Rice.

[edit on 7/16/2007 by donwhite]

TWO eye openers on tonight’s CBS News.
1) 5 year old girl rescued off school bus on collapsed bridge in Minneapolis said, “Why didn’t they fix the bridge before it fell?”

I’ve often said we ought to limit voting to those UNDER 1o years of age. We’d get the truth then!

2) President Karzai of Afghan visiting with our Maximum Leader Bush43 when asked about the Taliban kidnappers said, “Yes, the Taliban is causing much trouble in the hills, but they do not cause me to worry about the stability of my government.” What’s up here? His government cannot stop the kidnaping nor free the refining 21 S. Koreans, but he says his government is “stable?” What he means is he is so strong in Kabul that he cannot be ran out of town, but he is powerless outside Kabul. B43 said Karzai was a GREAT leader! What does B43 know about great leaders?

[edit on 8/6/2007 by donwhite]