We hear plenty of talk about what the war in Iraq is costing us in “blood and treasure,” and given that dynamic, I always feel a twinge of caution before focusing on the latter half. Obviously, the lives of U.S. troops are more important than money.
But financial costs do matter, and this war’s price tag is just staggering.
The war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over a trillion dollars — at least double what has already been spent — including the long-term costs of replacing damaged equipment, caring for wounded troops, and aiding the Iraqi government, according to a new government analysis.
The United States has already allocated more than $500 billion on the day-to-day combat operations of what are now 190,000 troops and a variety of reconstruction efforts.
In a report to lawmakers yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that even under the rosiest scenario — an immediate and substantial reduction of troops — American taxpayers will feel the financial consequences of the war for at least a decade.
It’s sometimes difficult to predict how the right will respond to news like this; I suspect they’ll say something about how expensive the Marshall Plan was and how it was obviously worth the investment.
But if that is the argument, let’s remember that we’re spending $1 trillion on a war that has produced the opposite of its intended result, has destabilized the region, and has made the United States less safe.
As for the “surge,” the administration said the policy would cost an additional $5.6 billion. The Bush gang was only off by a factor of seven.
Today, Tony Snow took a stab at defending all of this.
I haven’t seen today’s press briefing yet, but here’s what Tim Grieve reported:
Asked today about a new Congressional Budget Office report that puts the price tag of the war on Iraq at more than $1 trillion, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said: “Well, if you take a look at what happened on September 11th, 2001, it’s estimated that the aftershocks of that could have cost up to $1 trillion.”
It’s quite nauseating to see Snow get this pathetic. The attacks of 9/11 cost $1 trillion, so we’ve responded by spending another $1 trillion on a war that made our attackers stronger? Bush screwed up to a historic degree by failing to take terrorism seriously before 9/11, and he screwed up again by launching a disastrous war. The two tragic errors of judgment have cost $2 trillion — and according to Snow, one somehow justifies the other.
And as long as we’re on the subject, remember when Lawrence Lindsey, one of Bush’s top budget advisers, estimated in 2003 that the entire undertaking could cost as much as $200 billion — and was fired for coming up with a number that was far too high for the president’s liking?
Good times, good times.