How much war can we (the USA) afford?

Question

I saw recently that $500 Billion has been spent on Iraq so far. At what dollar amount does the war start to bend the economic well-being of the country? A trillion? Five trillion? Ten?

Although we've spent half a trillion on Iraq - it appears that the Bush administration has successfully saved us 6.9 Billion thanks to
cost-cutting measures. So with measures like that it appears it should all even out in about 90-100 years or so.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy07/pdf/budget/message.pdf

Hey - why did someone ding my question? Seems like a valid question to ask in a free country. No?
Please explain yourself.

Anyhow - it looks like the budget deficit is presently at about 3.2% of GDP which while large is in fact within historically supportable ranges. This is an economics quetion. So if you want to look at other factors besides % of GDP - lay em on me!

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy07/pdf/budget/overview.pdf

So the only way to be non-traitorous is to not ask questions about the cost of the war? Wow. That's truly ironic. We're fighting for your freedom - now shut up and keep spending and keep following your leader. Sounds kind of like the opposite of democracy.

Here is one source of the $509 Billion figure. The other is the Boston Globe but you need a subscription there. There are other sources as well.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/NEWS/609280381/1024/NEWS04

Answer 1

The US can afford to continue in this war if they retain the agreements that oil cartels do their business in the US dollar. The money that flows into Chase Manhattan for all the oil deals is a large part of what the American government relies upon as a kind of collateral for its credit (debt) agreements. If the petro dollar cycle is distrupted, the war will still go on but would eventually have to stop as the average person on the street would feel the economic hardships of inflation, market instability, etc...

The real question is how much war do we as a nation want to afford. How could all this spending otherwise be used to benefit the country? The answer is in education.Why not transform the Project for a New American Century idea of boosting the military
into an initiative to boost secondary and higher education? That would truly make our country strong. Bright people make bright government, incredible stides in business, know when venture capital is worth it, better technology, etc... People who are well
educated are more empowered to work and be productive in society. Also, we can treat education as a national security infrastructure. An educated and enabled population is a huge resource. Educated people do not let undemocratic practices go unnoticed. This is, I believe, the best way to make our nation great.

Answer 2

I would guess in the trillions. Think about having to ration gasoline, sugar, cotton, bread and pretty much all the other basics of life. Part of the problem with people who ask these kinds of questions miss the point that such an increase in costs also brings an increase in economic activity as war production expands. Yes, it costs more, but more people are making more money and can afford higher taxes better. (FYI, if you are on the legalizing the illegals side of that question with "guest worker" passes, this is one way to get it passed, we did in WW2.)

With people making more money, the tax burden is lower, also many will invest in war bonds (that are a truly horrid investment) to support the troops. The biggest problem actually would be dealing with the openly traitorous "support the troops, oppose the war" crowd. Why openly traitorous? Well, maybe they are just really ignorant, since the best way to support the troops is to win the war without having to deal with all the domestic obstructionism.

Answer 3

How would they have more than doubled what was reported as of 3/2006? I think you're wrong.



Cost of Wars

Figures are from the Congressional Research Service, courtesy of The Washington Post, 10 Sept 2003":


American Revolution: $3.2 billion.
War of 1812: $1 billion.
Mexican War: $1.8 billion.
Civil War: $50 billion Union, $21.8 billion Confederacy.
Spanish-American War: $6.5 billion.
World War I: $588 billion.
World War II: $4.8 trillion.
Korean War: $408 billion.
Vietnam War: $584 billion.
Persian Gulf War of 1991: $82 billion. Contributions from U.S. allies ended up covering more than 90 percent of this war's costs.
Operation Iraqi Freedom: $197 billion, as of March 2006.



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It says that is the total cost for Iraq, Afghanistan, AND all costs for ALL military operations at home and abroad since 2001
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Answer 4

Actually, we can't afford not to spend the money on the war on terror. If we even give the enemy an inch, they'll take it a mile. It is worth every penny. When we take the fight to them, we win. When they take it to us, we lose.

As far as Dollar figures go, and we compare it to this robust economy, the percentage of our GDP spent on the war is less now than at any other time in our nation's history, except the first Gulf War.

See the article in the link below:

Answer 5

Well do some math.. Find out what the annual US budget is and what the war is costing and how long it will take to pay off. Then deduct a few hundred billion for the corruption and you should have your answer..

Answer 6

Who knows? Bush must think he has a limitless credit card.
Not only the fact that this war might go on for 10 more yrs.,
but, social security is said to go bankrupt in 2012.
May heaven help future generations!!

Answer 7

Your country couldn't afford it the day it started. Now it'll never get out of the hole. Rather ask how much debt can your descendants afford to pay off over the next 200 years?

Answer 8

hunh. Well, we've been engaged in the war on poverty for nearly 50 years now, so probably a pretty long time.

Answer 9

It was bent before it started and it's only going to get worse. Our childrens children can thank our great leader years down the road when our country is is in economic shutdown because of his actions.

Answer 10

Waste of money, waste of life, waste of time. They'll keep adding to the national debt so long as Cheney still has a "personal agenda" in Iraq.