The Guardian is running a story today on a report completed and released by Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, and Harvard budget expert, Linda Bilmes, which claims the real cost of the War in iraq is likely to cost between one and two trillion dollars.
If anyone heard last night's town hall with Rep. Moran and Rep. Murtha, you may remember one questioner raising this cost projection and Rep. Moran claiming he had never heard it. (CSPAN has the meeting up)
Excerpts on the flip.
The real cost to the US of the Iraq war is likely to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion (£1.1 trillion), up to 10 times more than previously thought, according to a report written by a Nobel prize-winning economist and a Harvard budget expert.
The study, which expanded on traditional estimates by including such costs as lifetime disability and healthcare for troops injured in the conflict as well as the impact on the American economy, concluded that the US government is continuing to underestimate the cost of the war.
The big difference between the Bush Administration's projections and the ones in this study is based on what is included in the cost. That's no real surprise. Why should anyone believe the Bush Administration's numbers anyway? Everything else has been a lie regarding this war. WMDs and $200b sounds a lot better than no WMDs and upwards of $2 trillion.
Mr Stiglitz told the Guardian that despite the staggering costs laid out in their paper the economists had erred on the side of caution. "Our estimates are very conservative, and it could be that the final costs will be much higher. And it should be noted they do not include the costs of the conflict to either Iraq or the UK." In 2003, as US and British troops were massing on the Iraq border, Larry Lindsey, George Bush's economic adviser, suggested the costs might reach $200bn. The White House said the figure was far too high, and the deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, said Iraq could finance its own reconstruction.
The $2 trillion projection is just America's costs. For this war. I wonder what the total cost in money, resources and lives will end up being after the currently 15+ year engagement with Iraq is over. I wonder if Rice will take Albright's place and look us all in the face and say, "It was worth it."