Discussion of the Costs of the Iraq War

Heritage Foundation ^

[newbie2008]

My name is William W. Beach. I am the director of the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own, and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Joint Economic Committee, I do not present myself this morning as an expert on the battlefronts in the global war on terror. Others are here today or have testified before you who wear the badges of experts in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I, like most citizens, have my views on those and related conflicts, but those views are not what moved me to accept this committee's invitation to testify today.

Rather, I present myself as an economist who has followed the debate over the cost of the global war on terror and now is worried that this discussion, like so many others, has become a victim of the increasingly bitter partisanship surrounding this war. Citizens assume that those analysts who argue about the costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan nevertheless use the standard analytical tools for assessing the value of public outlays. They assume that serious analysts will seek the truth and avoid temptations to score political points by exaggerating their evidence or assuming away data that moves against their argument. They believe that a reasonable range of estimates exists that permits them, the sovereign power in our system of government, to make the necessary decisions about continuing or abandoning the Iraqi phase of this conflict.

[avacado]

Bookmark.

[penelopesire]

Thanks for posting this testimony.

Always interested in the Heritage Foundation.

[ChicagahAl]

Great article.

It is worse than disingenuous of Democrats to complain about the costs of the War. Virtually every budget-busting bill passed by the Dems in congress is accompanied by a statement to the effect of “We don’t do cost-benefit analysis on legislation. We just make laws that serve our political ideology, regardless of the cost”.

But somehow the costs of a war that has made Americans safer can be determined to be “too expensive”?

[peeps36]

The cost will be astronomical if the democrats are allowed to force defeat upon our troops. I hate to even think about all the life and capitol that would be wasted if we leave Iraq too soon. The sacrifices of our troops should be honored and protected from the democrats who are working for the enemy.