Iraq War's Price Tag Nears Vietnam's

(AP)  The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it.

The new report by the Congressional Research Service estimates the U.S. has spent $648 billion on Iraq war operations, putting it in range with the $686 billion, in 2008 dollars, spent on the Vietnam War, the second most expensive war behind World War II. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world.

All estimates, adjusted for inflation, are based on the costs of military operations and don't include expenses for veterans benefits, interest on war-related debts or assistance to war allies, according to the nonpartisan CRS.

The report underscores how the price tag has been gradually rising for the war in Iraq, which began in March 2003. In late 2002, then-White House budget director Mitch Daniels estimated the Iraq war would cost $50 billion to $60 billion. A year later, L. Paul Bremer, then-chief of the U.S. occupation government in Iraq, said the war would cost $100 billion.

Yet the Iraq war has consumed less of the nation's gross domestic product than other pricey conflicts. The Iraq war's costs represented 1 percent of GDP in the peak year of the war. World War II, with a $4.1 trillion price tag in 2008 dollars, was nearly 36 percent of GDP and the Vietnam War was 2.3 percent of GDP in that wars' peak years.

The report says comparisons of war expenses over hundreds of years "are inherently problematic" because of varying definitions of war costs. For example, the report's figures for the Vietnam War are Defense Department estimates of the incremental costs of military operations - the costs of war activities more than the normal, day-to-day costs of a standing military force. The costs for post 9/11 military operations are estimated from Congress-appropriated amounts and Defense Department reports.

The CRS report warns that comparisons of costs in inflation-adjusted prices are a "very rough exercise."

"It is difficult to know what it really means to compare costs of the American Revolution to costs of military operations in Iraq when, 230 years ago, the most sophisticated weaponry was a 36-gun frigate that is hardly comparable to a modern $3.5 billion destroyer," researchers wrote.

Here are the report's estimated costs of major wars, in 2008 dollars, and their costs as a percentage of GDP in each of their peak years:

American Revolution: $1.8 billion; GDP figure not available

War of 1812: $1.2 billion; 2.2 percent

Civil War, Union: $45.2 billion; 11.3 percent

Civil War, Confederacy: $15.2 billion; GDP figure not available

World War I: $253 billion; 13.6 percent

World War II: $4.1 trillion; 35.8 percent

Korean War: $320 billion; 4.2 percent

Vietnam War: $686 billion; 2.3 percent

Gulf War: $96 billion; 0.3 percent

Iraq war: $648 billion; 1 percent

Afghanstian/Global war on terror: $171 billion; 0.3 percent

Post 9/11 domestic security: $33 billion; 0.1 percent

Post 9/11 operations: $859 billion; 1.2 percent

[davide1982]

This war is the second expensive for U.S. after the World War II. Here I've tried to summarize all costs of the Iraq war for Americans:


http://www.myhowtoos.com/en/red-hot/86-all-costs-of-war-in-iraq-for-usa

[neoconrcrazy]

bush is real good at losing OPM....and fathers, and brothers, and uncles....and if you consider the poor iraqis a moment.....mothers, sisters, children too.

[nodemotwit]

The Vietnam war was launched, full-bore, by Democrats under the Kennedy administration.
And while the liberal''s Vietnam war may have monetarily cost the same as Iraq, it also cost 10''s of Thousands more in American dead, and Millions more in South Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian
dead in the post-war aftermath.

And North Vietnams genocidal ruler, Ho Chi Minh,
was never dethroned (unlike Saddam Hussein).

Liberals have little to be proud of in their Vietnam.

This piece is nothing more than liberal desperation to tie any and all Republican successes to past US failures, by ANY metric possible, in the lead up to November.

[babooph]

When the middle class is fully destitute,the war will have to end-the rich do noy pay for it or fight in it,just suck the blood out of those who do.

[firststate]

terrorislamv
It''s hard to believe that any intelligent person could honestly believe all the drivel available on either end of the political spectrum. Even the white house no longer contends their WMD claims were true. They say they were just iniversal wrong conclusions based upon the evidence, even though there was enough evidence to the contrary to justify further investigation. When one refuses to adjust their thinking to conform to reality, he or she is by definition, delusional.

No matter how fervently people believed that the earth was flat, the fact remains that it isn''t. I''d suggest giving the WMD-bit a rest. No matter how crazy the idea, one can find "experts" who share it. It comes off sounding as crazy or crazier than some of the conspiracy theories.

[obama441]

terrorislamv what a friggin imbecile! your days are numbered d.amn pedophile

[ajaxtheleast]

Following is the Roger Ebert venture-into-
politics review which left debatable his
voluntary retirement:


"The beginning Shock And Awe quickly

abstracted into Katie Bar The door which

subsequently ended in the Commander-

In-chief morphing into the dis-respected,

rejected, forlorn cowboy Casalong Hoppity

and his tragic end as but a faint billowing

burnt-orange cloud of dust silently floating

off into the fading red-to-deep-purple sunset."

[obama441]

Posted by RosieOD4Prez you''re an uncle "tom" end of story...

[demwatcher]

But, as measured by the GDP, seven of those conflict were MORE expensive to the country.

The dollar amount is NOT critical, the PERCENTAGE is.

If I need to spend $100 for groceries, it is less of an impact if I have $10,000 to spend compared to if I only had $1,000.

We''ve spent ONLY 1 percent of the GDP on Iraq. It IS a lot of money, but not when measured against the economic strength of America as a whole.

And don''t give me your Liberal crapola about President Bush *** up the economy. The BIG downturn has occurred since in the last year and a half. AND, the only change that correlates with that is the Democrats taking over Congress.

[o_nolan1]

Military industrial complex. All this money to fight all these wars has always been to benefit weapons manufacturers and their political cronies who have no interest in bringing these conflicts to an end. Once these interests are brought under control, only then will real justice be brought to the world. It will take strong leaders to take on the war machine who think they operate independent of the will of the people and the government.