September 12, 2016
THE PEACE DIVIDEND IS SWEET:
Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan Have Cost the US Nearly $5 Trillion (Ciro Scotti, September 12, 2016, Reuters)
In a new update on the devastating economic cost, the Watson Institute's Costs of War Project says the U.S. has spent or is on the hook for $4.8 trillion and could wind up paying out almost $8 trillion when the final accounting is done.
The $4.8 trillion includes "direct congressional war appropriations; war-related increases to the Pentagon base budget; veterans care and disability; increases in the homeland security budget; interest payments on direct war borrowing; foreign assistance spending; and estimated future obligations for veterans' care.
Sure, that's chump change to defeat the Wahabbi/Salafists, given an $18 trillion GDP, but there are lots of good things we can spend the next $8 trillion on.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 12, 2016 4:35 PM