According to the
BBC, the United States has spent more per month in Iraq than fighting the war in Vietnam, making Iraq the most expensive war in 60 years.
The report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), called The Iraq Quagmire, calculates the cost of current military operations in Iraq at $5.6bn (£3.1bn) every month. *The report put costs in Iraq at $500m (£278m) a month more than in Vietnam, adjusted for inflation.*
By comparison, the eight-year campaign in Vietnam cost on average $5.1bn (£2.8bn) a month.
And, the report also states that there are fewer troops in Iraq and the waepons systems are more expensive.
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The BBC also claims that the
co-author of the report, Erik Leaver told the BBC costs in Iraq had spiralled since 2003 because the US had not been well-prepared.
"We have deployed now roughly one million troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the numbers just keep going up and up," he said.
"We are going to continue to see costs not only from the fighting now but also from the health care of these soldiers and veterans when they come home."
Thomas Donnelly, of the AEI, claims that result of the Iraq war is more important than its cost in dollars.
"The more valued criticism is whether the Bush administration is winning the war and prosecuting it in a successful way,"
"So what price victory? I would say that $5bn a month is certainly something I would be willing to pay."
"Although the costs of war have grown... the American economy is exponentially larger than it was in the Vietnam War years,"
"When it [the Iraq war] is compared to the overall size of the American economy, it's really a drop in the bucket, certainly by historical standards."
Tell that to the people of New Orleans!