Silverbird
Well-known member
By Michael Moran
MSNBC contributor
updated 10:55 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 18, 2008
.....The debate over cost comes with a lot of complications and caveats, as well as accusations of political bias. But on some things, both sides agree. For instance, most projections assume that American troops will remain in Iraq for at least another decade.
They also agree on the easiest figure to peg: the actual budgetary outlay by the U.S. government so far. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported last fall that $368 billion already had been spent on the Iraq war plus another $45 billion in benefits for the wounded and survivors of those killed in action.....
Whatever the case in 2017, one fact with long-term implications which neither side can deny: The money funding the Iraq war is borrowed from America’s international creditors.
From at least the days of Louis XIV, accruing long-term debt obligations to fight wars has raised the hair on the back of economists’ heads. For a variety of reasons and in very different circumstances, such debts helped undermine the power of Spain, France and Britain at various points in world history.
At current rates, the Iraq War adds $120 billion a year to the national debt. Those are figures no one shrugs off easily.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23638400/
MSNBC contributor
updated 10:55 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 18, 2008
.....The debate over cost comes with a lot of complications and caveats, as well as accusations of political bias. But on some things, both sides agree. For instance, most projections assume that American troops will remain in Iraq for at least another decade.
They also agree on the easiest figure to peg: the actual budgetary outlay by the U.S. government so far. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported last fall that $368 billion already had been spent on the Iraq war plus another $45 billion in benefits for the wounded and survivors of those killed in action.....
Whatever the case in 2017, one fact with long-term implications which neither side can deny: The money funding the Iraq war is borrowed from America’s international creditors.
From at least the days of Louis XIV, accruing long-term debt obligations to fight wars has raised the hair on the back of economists’ heads. For a variety of reasons and in very different circumstances, such debts helped undermine the power of Spain, France and Britain at various points in world history.
At current rates, the Iraq War adds $120 billion a year to the national debt. Those are figures no one shrugs off easily.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23638400/
