How much will this war cost?

Bush claims that this war is a "defensive" move, and yet we are attacking them.

Is the cost of this war a good investment in "defense"? Will it prevent a biological/chemical attack?

Or, is it simply an investment in our beloved oil corporations?

Are our taxes being used wisely?

jjirout

I think its entirely up to what America does after the attack. If a free, democratic, and most of all successful Iraq, emerges from this war then that will I think counter balance the threat of increased Muslim terrorism.
But if Iraq ends like Afghanistan seems to be doing, forgotten and still with combat taking place, then the war will be a disaster that only incites further anti US sentiments.

The thing to remember, and what Bush is really fighting against, is that even with re election, his administration does not really have the time to wage a war on terrorism. There will most likely be more attacks in the future, and I can envision a time when people look back on the 'war on terror' with the same sad humour that arises when we look back on the 'War to end all wars'.

Bush is fighting against a deadline which Osama Bin Laden can ignore at his leisure.

Editted to add;

I went a bit OT there. My point is, if Iraq succeeds, then the 'War on terror' will have enjoyed a vast success and the money being spent on this attack will have been well invested. Especially if the Iraqi oil then repays a lot of America's investment.

The millitary budget I believe is approx. 396 billions dollars while education enjoys only a tenth that much money. We should care much more about our youth's education than that.



I think the best way to defend ourselves from terrorist attacks is to stop antagonizing them and stay out of their countries and business.

Obviously America will successfully win a war in Iraq & the cost, if it is a short war, say 3 weeks or a month, will cost probably $30 billion.

If it is a long war, say 3 months(we Americans have little patience but i doubt an Iraq war will last this long) will cost $90 billion to $200 billion

The oil fields can be used to pay off the war debt & everything will be cool (unless saddam decides to blow the fields up)

I would say it would be well worth it because we will have the satisfaction that one more nut is out of power & the chance of chemical/biological weapons falling into terrorist hands or major funding for terrorist organizations will decrease dramatically

moif Posted on Mar 6 2003, 05:35 PM


Afghanistan, in the eyes of the Muslim World, was a test on America to see how we would leave Afghanistan after the bombs stopped & how we treated the locals etc. In other words, do we clean up after ourselves after we are done or do we just leave it to crumble for another 20 years & do we harrass the locals & murder them for no flippin reasn or do we treat them with respect? Iraq will be another Afghanistan test in this way.

Back up... They are not American oil fields. They are Iraqi oilfields and they will do whatever they choose with them after the war.

No matter how it goes, the cost will be high. This is why I wish we had not gone to the UN back in the fall.

The UN should have been approached for after-the-war duties only. Peacekeeping and rebuilding are what they have some hope to do well.

As for bombs or books, maybe the books shouldn't be there in the first place. The federal govt should get out of the education field, leave it to the states. The federal dept of ed has been nothing but a support system for the teachers' union, and the children be damned.

GoAmerica



Tests are set. So your analogy is flawed since the Arabs did not set America any such test. Instead America took it upon herself to attack Afghanistan.

If we consider the cost of the Afghan 'war' then was it money well spent? Did bringing down the Taliban stop the terrorists from attacking Bali? No.
But it did remove one of al qaeda's opportunities, and presumably, removing Saddam Hussein will further narrow al qaeda's chances for a large scale attack in the future, and since that is the over all plan, then I think that a successful attack, will be money well spent.

Musing from the Middle



But then America would not have had even the British and the 8 other European nations by her side, and the war might have become to costly.
America is rich, but is it willing to pay for an attack all by itself? Money is not the only thing which this war will cost.

I know the arabs didn't "set the test" but in the eyes of the muslim world, the war in Afghanistan was to see how America would keep her promise of not leaving but picking up after herself as well as a little house cleaning

goamerica,



What is your source for this figure? I am genuinely interested because I've not seen this estimate as yet. I have seen the 100-200 billion estimate.

As far as the expected reduction in terrorism activity, this will probably help Israel more than the US because Saddam funds Palestinian terrorists--who have never attacked the US.

President Bush has already said in his last speech (not the press conference) that Iraqi resources will remain in Iraqi control for Iraqi benefit. Forget about oil paying for this war.

As always, you and I will pay for this war. Hopefully, the economy will recover to the point where I pay taxes again and you don't get laid off.

Bombs or books? Shoot, just review the federal budget. We like bombs a lot better. When's the last time the government sponsored the authorship of a book for millions of dollars? If any have been, then how do I get on that gravy train?

Well, actually some millions have been spent for producing government publications. Okay, we sort of like books.

Estimated guess on my part




But have killed some Americans in their attacks

goamerica,

I detect some wishful thinking here. The war, by official estimates, will cost a lot of billions of dollars. We simply have to accept this fact. The impacts on our economy are easily extrapolated from this fact--wars tend to lead to recessions due to the expended capital: material, monetary, and human. The work in Iraq after the war will also cost a lot of billions, with possibly some return--building out communications infrastructure, for example.

If US citizens are killed in Israel from a Palestinian terrorist attack, and Saddam funds some of these terrorists, that is justification for war? This is a very new precedent, and of course you can see the logical disconnect, can't you? The illogic leads to every nation in which the US has funded freedom fighters the right to wage war directly on US soil. It can even be used to justify terrorism on US soil, and so you don't really want to go down that path.

Well, I don't, anyway. Trouble is, I don't seem to have a choice here. My leadership, whom I did not vote for, will take all of us where it wants to take us, sticking us with the bill in the end.

Well, back to book research. That's my priority

The federal government does not directly fund schools. It only doles out money for certain programs. The education burden is on the states, since education is NOT in the Constitution (read it, its an informative document). The Feds make school districts jump through alot of hoops to get money as well.

In short, education is not in the Federal mandate, but defense is.

As for your second point, I don't think the "Stick our heads in the sand and hope it all blows over" defense will ever be the right one.

I don't believe the war is a good investment in defense as it will likely incite more resentment or outright hatred for the United States. Hate is an abstraction we can't hunt down and kill. We can't pay hate off or snuggle up to a cornered animal after it's committed us to memory as a danger. It took 7 years for Middle Eastern terrorism to find it's way back to our shores... they can afford to be patient. In many cases, we'll be waiting for the children of war to grow and mature before they can carry out acts against "the aggressor."

I fail to see how the war will prevent a chemical or biological attack if a terrorist wishes to commit him or herself to one. Committing ourselves to improved border protection, INS efficiency and revising our foreign policy will help to reduce our risks. But do note that there is really nothing we can do to entirely prevent such an attack so long as there are those harboring ill will for our country.

I think the American war machine is, in large part, driven by the quest for oil. This is arguable, but it is my view. It certainly doesn't hurt, though, that while we picked the weakest army and the least threatening nation out of our axis of evil options, we picked the one with the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. Just imagine if a new regime were sympathetic to Corporate America's interests following a war...

And yeah, I'd say our tax dollars are being used unwisely. Over half of our tax dollars have gone to the armed forces for the last 50 years, even during times of peace. All the while the quality of our education has been spiraling downward with increasing speed. I believe there are schools actually being forced to close or shave weeks off the school year it has gotten so bad.

But it is only a bad investment for the American people and the long term future of America itself. For those in power and for the war junkies who love them, it is a wonderful investment. The less educated the public is, the easier to pander to them with propaganda and win them over with little more than soundbytes and slogans.