Iraq war may cost US $7 trillion

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:57:31

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=45204&sectionid=3510203

Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes

Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may cost the US up to USD 7 trillion.

When US troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration predicted that the war would be self-financing and that rebuilding the nation would cost less than USD 2b, but Stiglitz estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing America more than USD 3 trillion.

That estimate from the Noble Prize-winning Sttiglitz also serves as the title of his new book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War", which hits store shelves Friday.

The book, co-authored with Harvard University professor Linda Bilmes, builds on previous research that was published in January 2006. The two argued then and now that the cost to America of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is wildly underestimated.

When other factors are added - such as interest on debt, future borrowing for war expenses, the cost of a continued military presence in Iraq and lifetime health-care and counseling for veterans - they think that the wars' costs range from USD 5 trillion to USD 7 trillion.

“I think we really have learned that the long-term costs of taking care of the wounded and injured in this war and the long-term costs of rebuilding the military to its previous strength is going to far eclipse the cost of waging this war,” Bilmes said in an interview.

The book and its estimates are the subject of a hearing Thursday by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Marine Corp colonel and Vietnam veteran, welcomed the effort by Stiglitz and Bilmes to quantify how much the wars will cost taxpayers.

“It's astounding that here we are about to mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and this administration still refuses to acknowledge the long-term costs of the war in Iraq,” he said.

By any estimate, the Bush administration's predictions in March 2003 of a self-financing war have proved to be wildly inaccurate. Stiglitz cites operational spending to date of USD 646b for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, working off estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, presumes that spending on these wars over the next decade probably will amount to another USD 913b.

Pentagon officials had no immediate comment on Stiglitz's book or his estimates.

MMA/HAR

Athugasemdir

[Óskar, 3.3.2008 kl. 17:00]

Sæll Baldur.

Hefurðu séð þetta vídjó?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jcIIfim3txE

 Taktu eftir sprengingum í fyrri turninum þegar sá seinni verður fyrir árás.  Mjög greinileg risastór sprenging og squibs út um allt.

 Ég set þetta hér v.þ.a. þetta er eina aðferðin sem ég þekki til að geta sent þér skilaboð. Er einhver þægilegri leið?

[Baldur Fjölnisson, 3.3.2008 kl. 17:34]

Takk fyrir þetta Óskar.

Ég hef stúderað hollywoodsjóið 11. sept. stíft eiginlega frá fyrsta degi og aldrei tekið minnsta mark á opinberu dellunni enda nær hún alls engri átt og er þar að auki soðin saman af raðlygurum, sem einskis svífast við að ljúga fram sín glæpsamlegu plön, eins og dæmin sanna.

[Baldur Fjölnisson, 3.3.2008 kl. 17:40]

Smá lesning:

Former Congressman Warns Of Martial Law Camps In America

Rigged Gitmo Trials Prove 9/11 Official Story Wrong

U.S. Military Civil Disturbance Planning: The War at Home Part One

9/11 Aircraft 'Black Box' Serial Numbers Mysteriously Absent

PARTNERS IN CRIME: The Clintons, the Bushes, and BCCI

Newly Released FBI Timeline Reveals New Information about 9/11 Hijackers that Was Ignored by 9/11 Commission

[Baldur Fjölnisson, 3.3.2008 kl. 17:45]

            

Jean-Pierre Beaurenaut & Yves Billon - The Epic of Black Gold (2004)

The history of oil is the history of the 20th century. It is a history of corruption, violence, unimaginable profits and human suffering. In the last 100 years, oil has changed almost every part of human life in almost every corner of the globe. This series sets out to tell the tale of Black Gold, in suitably epic detail and scope; from John D Rockefeller and Henry Ford's Model-T, through both world wars, to the current US engagement in Iraq - everyone should watch this

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stream part 2 windows media player

stream part 3 windows media player

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stream part 5 windows media player

 

[Baldur Fjölnisson, 3.3.2008 kl. 17:48]

Þetta fór nú í vaskinn en hvað með það - þið getið horft á þessa stórmerku heimildarmynd *The Epic of Black Gold* hér:

http://www.teachers.tv/video/24400

Í fimm hlutum.

[Óskar, 3.3.2008 kl. 18:48]

engin leið fyrir mig að senda þér einkaskilaboð fyrst við erum nú orðnir bloggvinir?

[Baldur Fjölnisson, 3.3.2008 kl. 19:05]

Endilega.

Sendu póst eins og þú vilt á [e-mail]