Cost of Iraq War Compared to Other US Wars (vanity)

07/09/07 | self (vanity)

[Sherman Logan]

Thanx!

I’ve always thought it makes more sense to mutually agree on what the facts are and then argue about what they mean. Most arguments, on FR and elsewhere, seem to try to combine the two modes of discussion, which in my opinion works poorly and in the interest of the guy with the weaker argument.

Its main effect is that no argument ever ends.

[Cpl.Nym]

A list of URLs would be helpful. I would like to post this on a left-leaning board. They will scream Source, Source. Thanks for posting

[Sherman Logan]

Here you go. I believe this is all the sources. As I’ve said, I can’t vouch directly that all the numbers are correct. They’re just the best I could find.

http://eh.net/hmit/gdp/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_United_States

http://republicans.appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=GeneralInformation.BackgroundInformation

http://www.civilwarhome.com/population1860.htm

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/sheets/hist01z1.xls

http://www.mnforsustain.org/united_states_population_growth_graph.htm

http://www.npg.org/facts/us_historical_pops.htm

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/pdf/hist.pdf

http://zfacts.com/p/447.html
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/other/stats/warcost.htm

[Sherman Logan]

It would be nice if you could send me a link when you post it elsewhere. I’m interested in what others have to say.

[Albertafriend]

So what is the cost of maintaining the military involved in this war and their equipment if they were not in Iraq, i.e. stationed somewhere else in the world or just on their bases in the U.S.? They all still have to be paid, there still has to be eqipment for training and drill and they still have to maintain the equipment and buy new stuff. So how much is the difference? Isn’t that the real cost of the war?

[crazyhorse691]

Save for reference...you hit the bigtime, you are a reference.

[Sherman Logan]

Excellent point, which is supposedly allowed for in this source from the Congressional Research Service.

http://zfacts.com/p/447.html

But there are so many games that can be played with the numbers by somebody with an ax to grind that your guess is as good as mine.

[El Gato]

This indicates that about 1/3 of total Defense expenditures are for the Iraq war. I wonder if that is correct? If so, given that defense spending has only risen about 10% since the last Clinton budget, you can see that the military is being hollowed out to fight the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hell holes such as Djibouti where we have troops deployed in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

It means that we are cutting nearly everything else. R&D is taking a big hit, bigger than under Clinton. They are cutting funding for the mess halls for Pete's sake.

Normally Defense expenditures as a fraction of GDP rise quite a bit during a shooting war. This time the increase was only about 10% and that was from a post WW-II low of less than 3% of GDP.

[Pelham]

The War for Southern Independence.

[Pelham]

Great minds...