Actual Cost of the Iraq War

[Shady]

CBO: Eight Years of Iraq War Cost Less Than Stimulus Act

As President Obama prepares to tie a bow on U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Congressional Budget Office numbers show that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009.

According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.

The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion.

Link

These numbers are from the Congressional Budget Office.

I figured I'd post this to combat some recent ramblings of some rather inaccurate data by a fellow forum member. I hope this clears things up.

[Smallc]

I'm not sure what the point is. A house costs more than a car. So?

[Moonlight Graham]

Always believe the gov't numbers!

A nobel prize winning economist & others have another figure: Washington Post

“Writing in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war at $3 trillion. This price tag dwarfed previous estimates, including the Bush administration’s 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war.

But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war’s broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected.

Moreover, two years on, it has become clear to us that our estimate did not capture what may have been the conflict’s most sobering expenses: those in the category of “might have beens,” or what economists call opportunity costs. For instance, many have wondered aloud whether, absent the Iraq invasion, we would still be stuck in Afghanistan. And this is not the only “what if” worth contemplating. We might also ask: If not for the war in Iraq, would oil prices have risen so rapidly? Would the federal debt be so high? Would the economic crisis have been so severe?”

cont'd...

[punked]

Always believe the gov't numbers!

A nobel prize winning economist & others have another figure: Washington Post

Not only that Washington post went to say when looking back at their 3 Trillion figure they low balled a lot of their estimate and the costs could be in some cases twice as much. So you are looking at some were between 3.5 Trillion and 6 Trillion. Think of all the stimulus you could buy with that? Must be why 70 percent of Americans think Bus deserves all the blame for the economy.

[waldo]

direct from a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report - here:

A Comparison of Cost-of-War Estimates

A number of estimates of the costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been performed by analysts working outside the government; those estimates are often higher than CBO’s. For example, in 2006, two academic researchers—Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz—estimated that the war in Iraq could cost several trillion dollars in present-value terms, including costs to the federal government as well as other economic costs outside the federal budget. CBO restricts its estimates of war costs to federal budgetary effects and has not attempted to estimate the macroeconomic effects of the war.

[bush_cheney2004]

Not only that Washington post went to say when looking back at their 3 Trillion figure they low balled a lot of their estimate and the costs could be in some cases twice as much. So you are looking at some were between 3.5 Trillion and 6 Trillion....

...or $10 trillion...or $20 trillion....just pick a number that best suits your political agenda. Then we can do it all over again for health care reform. Yay!

[GostHacked]

...or $10 trillion...or $20 trillion....just pick a number that best suits your political agenda. Then we can do it all over again for health care reform. Yay!

You mean again again?

[bush_cheney2004]

You mean again again?

Yep...rinse and repeat as needed.

[Shady]

...or $10 trillion...or $20 trillion....just pick a number that best suits your political agenda.

Exactly. Nevermind what the Congressional Budget Office actually states as the real cost of the war as of now. It's a lot more fun to inflate the cost by linking to The Washington Post OPINION pages to suit their political agenda.

CBO restricts its estimates of war costs to federal budgetary effects and has not attempted to estimate the macroeconomic effects of the war.

That's the case for legislation as well.

[Smallc]

I'm still not understanding the point of this thread. Canada's stimulus cost about twice as much as Afghanistan. The G8/G20 summits cost more than a warship. The US military spends more in a year than every Canadian provincial government and the federal government combined. Should I go on with these pointless comparisons.

Oh, and I would think it would be better to spend money on your own people than on fighting a war in another country that you never should have invaded. Perhaps, it's in fact a good thing that the stimulus cost more than a war?

Edited September 6, 2010 by Smallc

[Bonam]

Oh, and I would think it would be better to spend money on your own people than on fighting a war in another country that you never should have invaded. Perhaps, it's in fact a good thing that the stimulus cost more than a war?

War IS stimulus. Massive government spending on defense procurement creates tons of good jobs in engineering, manufacturing, and advanced technology. Best of all, most of these jobs can't be outsourced since they are governed by security regulations that restrict them to US citizens only. Also, well paid soldiers coming back from their tours of duty are big consumers. For an example, just look at the wonders WWII did for the US economy.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Bonam

[Smallc]

I will give you that war is stimulus, but the entire cost isn't...unlike real stimulus. Also, there is something inherently negative about war that doesn't exist with pure stimulus.

[punked]

...or $10 trillion...or $20 trillion....just pick a number that best suits your political agenda. Then we can do it all over again for health care reform. Yay!

The longer it drags the more it costs.

[bush_cheney2004]

The longer it drags the more it costs.

Oh well...just like Germany (54,000 troops), Japan (45,000), and Korea (30,000). Let's welcome Iraq to the club!

[punked]

Oh well...just like Germany (54,000 troops), Japan (45,000), and Korea (30,000). Let's welcome Iraq to the club!

Not a waste of money at all.