Cost of Iraq War Now Beyond Human Comprehension
Submitted by Republican Liberty on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 17:51
How far off were they? Well, it depends on which figure you choose to start with. Here's the range: According to key officials in the Bush administration back in 2002-2003, the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq was either going to cost $60 billion, or $100-$200 billion. Actually, we can start by tossing that top figure out, since not long after Bush economic advisor Larry Lindsey offered it in 2002, he was shown the door, in part assumedly for even suggesting something so ludicrous.
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In a recent interview, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz asserted that the costs of the Iraq war -- budgetary, economic, and societal -- could reach $5 trillion.
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at the beginning of the war noone cared
as bloodlust/manufactured fear ruled
its not like we did this based on it being cheap
there was no budget
there was no plan
there is no exit...there never was gonna be
they didnt miss a target, they said what was palatable...knowing that once we were in, it would not matter anyway
it was all about what they thought was a worthy cause...and I dont mean Iraqi freedom, like we really give a shit about other people
It can be called lying...and what we have lost is quite comprehensible, our integrity and contact with the reality of the world we actually live in...we are all hostages to an idea covering an agenda that cannot be explicitly stated
as a thinking man or a citizen, how do we respond?
Help Comprehending Some of It...
I teach college algebra, and one of the problems I have my students work on to help comprehend large numbers goes something like this...
Imagine you are standing on the street corner, just tossing away money. Imagine you are throwing away a $100 bill every second. So, in ten seconds, you've thrown away $1000. (Now think what you could do with $1000.)
So, how long would it take to give away $200 billion (the amount the President requested for '08 in Iraq a few months back)?
Most people's first response is way off.
(Got your calculator ready?)
First, input 200,000,000,000 <-- that's eleven zeros.
Divide that by 100 to get the number of seconds (think back to the thousand dollar bit at the beginning). Divide that by 60 for the minutes. Divide that by 60 for the hours. Divide that by 24 for the days. Divide that by 365 for the years and you get about 63.4 ...
That is to say, IT WOULD TAKE OVER 63 YEARS!!!! Did you read that? Over six decades to give away 200 billion dollars at a rate of $100 a second.
How can you not vote for Ron Paul when bridges are falling down in America and we're talking about trillions of dollars (TRILLIONS! WITH A FREAKIN' T) spent on an undeclared "war" ???
Keep singing "Bomb-Bomb-Iran" while the country goes bankrupt. *ARGH*
*ahem* Sorry about that! It gets me worked up.
PEACE
Rob-Roy
P.S. I've got some videos and some music on my myspace page as well as info in the blog. I'd appreciate your support! myspace.com/therobroy
PEACE
Rob-Roy