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{ An Autopsy of Democracy }

Friday, May 07, 2004

Just a few more Billion for the Iraq War.


So while the cost of two wars is being omitted from the president's budget, it's already clear that more money will be requested (after the election, one assumes) to fund the war against Iraq--$25 Billion is being estimated.

Is there an estimate yet on the projected total cost of this undertaking? (I'm just talking money now, not lives.)

One measure might suffice to put things in perspective: it has been estimated that the damage done to Iraq's infrastructure in the first (1991) Gulf War was about $200 Billion. (This would be the "reconstruction" cost--NOT including the cost of the war itself. In other words, had we decided to help with reconstruction after Gulf War I, this is how much it would have cost us. We didn't, of course, so this burden fell completely on Iraq--which, with the sanctions immediately imposed and limited oil revenues, could not rebuild everything. Nevertheless, basic services like water, electricity, sewage etc., were restored rather quickly--which is part of the reason many Iraqis are so stunned that America, the wealthiest and most technologically-advanced country in the world, has taken so long to get anything up and running.)


"THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1331046&l=33604 >
===============================

WHITE HOUSE MISLED AMERICA ABOUT COST OF WAR

In a transparent effort to mask the true costs of war
and reduce the size of the mounting budget deficit
the White House left funding for Iraq and Afghanistan
out of the 2005 budget it submitted on February 2.
[1] Since that time, the "administration has
steadfastly maintained that military forces in Iraq
will be sufficiently funded until early next year."
[2] White House Budget Director Joshua Bolton
insisted "no request [for more money for Iraq] would
come until January at the earliest."

From the beginning, military officials predicted that
the Administration's game playing would create
problems. General Peter Schoomaker, Army Chief of
Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on
February 11, "I am concerned...on how we bridge
between the end of this fiscal year and whenever we
could get a supplemental in the next year...I do not
have an answer for exactly how we would do that." [3]
Marine Commandant General Michael Hagee agreed.

As predicted, it was revealed last month that, without
additional funding, US troops would face a $4 billion
shortfall as early as this summer. [4] Yesterday, the
President was forced to come clean and request "an
additional $25 billion to finance military operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan." [5]

—ungeziefer



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UNGEZIEFER



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