Two economists size up the cost of the Iraq War. The numbers are staggering: "The only war in our history which cost more was World War II, when 16.3 million US troops fought in a campaign lasting four years, at a total cost (in 2007 dollars, after adjusting for inflation) of about $US5 trillion." And the U.S. involvement in that war lasted 3 years and 8 months. To contrast what was accomplished in WW2, namely the defeat of Nazism, of Japanese militarism, and of Italian Fascism, to what has been accomplished in Iraq, namely the overthrow and hanging of Saddam Hussein, the destruction of so much of Iraq, is disgraceful.
"Most Americans have yet to feel these costs. The price in blood has been paid by our voluntary military and by hired contractors. The price in treasure has, in a sense, been financed entirely by borrowing. Taxes have not been raised to pay for it - in fact, taxes on the rich have actually fallen. Deficit spending gives the illusion that the laws of economics can be repealed, that we can have both guns and butter. But of course the laws are not repealed. The costs of the war are real even if they have been deferred, possibly to another generation."
By the time the true cost is assessed and has to begin to get paid W and Dick will long be out of office, and be aluded only by the looniest of right wing fanatics as having done something useful and of importance. History will denigrate those two. What future generations will think and do is impossible to know. But I cry for the damage done to Iraq and to the US.
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