Why is the war in iraq costing so much?

Question

I can't figure this out for the life of me.

So far, the war cost about 367 billion dollars. We are fighting there with about 150,000 soldiers (upper bound).

In other words, we spent about 2.5 million dollars per soldier.

On what?

I can't figure it out. Procurement was minimal (most equipment was pre-existing), maintenance is minimal (as combat action is on very low intensity levels, globally speaking) and we are fighting with a minimal force (relative to historical levels).

I guess I could also be asking why WW2 was so cheap. Comparatively, procurement was huge, ongoing combat operations were on a very intense level and we were involved with upwards of 5 million men.

What gives?

Am I mistaken to say that the money for the war is not coming from the defense budget. In other words, it goes beyond costs that would have been incurred otherwise.

Answer 1

Be careful about your numbers.

If we weren't fighting the war on terror, we would still be spending the majority of what you just named simply because we have a military. Some of the costs of the war that we would pay whether we had a war or not:

1) paying and training all active duty personnel
2) paying and training (part time) all reserves
3) all veteran services
4) cost of maintaining all ships, planes, tanks, etc.
5) deployments to the Persian Gulf (which we've been doing non-stop since 1990)
6) all retirement pay already earned
7) all command resources in Qatar
8) all supply services in Diego Garcia
9) maintenance of all bases in the region (such as Bahrain and Riyadh)

Now recompute your numbers and see what you come up with.

Answer 2

Good question! I've assumed that since the number is so crazily high that it must include expenses that would have been incurred if there hadn't been a war in the first place (e.g., projectiles, fuel, etc. and, who knows, wages and benefits, too?).

I have read, however, that maintenance levels are quite high due to the conditions in Iraq (dust, sand, high heat levels, etc.) and that the Pentagon is continually behind the curve on keeping up with the demand for replacement vehicles. Must be all those gigabuck large-weapons systems that suck up most of the bucks year-in and year-out.

Listen, if you come across a definitive answer to this question, please post it so we can be better informed. Maybe the Pentagon or the President's Office of Management and Budget has the data.

Answer 3

For one, World War 2 was definitely not cheap. It sounds cheap because money was worth more, and wages weren't as high back then. Also, our technology and the materials we use now are worth a lot more than the ones back then. On the answer to your first question, there are lots of things contributing to that. Transportation to and throughout Iraq isn't cheap. Also, caring for injured soldiers costs quite a bit as well. Even though our forces are small, we have almost no financial aid, unlike in other wars. In both World Wars, for example, the Allies helped each other out a lot financially. Also, airplanes, helicopters, and larger firearms cost a lot of money. The last part is getting soldiers back home, food for soldiers, and letters from home.

Answer 4

What went incorrect? each little thing. WW II inspired the yank economic device, because of the fact the U.S. had long previous for the time of the worst melancholy in historic previous and had nowhere to bypass yet up. if so the conflict DID stimulate the economic device, even nevertheless many stuff have been nevertheless rationed. What Bush did is he took the grand surplus Clinton left him and stole it to bypass to a ineffective conflict in Iraq. while issues did no longer bypass the way he theory, he became into cornered and as a result had to spend billions we did no longer have, which resulted in the economic meltdown, the bursting of the housing bubble and the give way at Wall highway, sending this united states of america and that is human beings right into a nostril dive and boy did we crash. hundreds and hundreds misplaced their jobs, their properties, their retirement and each little thing else significant to them. Obama had no different decision yet to proceed to pump money into the economic device with the hopes that making an investment money in u.s. and the yank human beings, would bring about getting us out of the disaster Bush positioned us in. At this element, if we invade Iran in the form we are in now, we will little question bypass into the 2d super melancholy. Obama is conscious that and till we easily could invade Iran because of the fact our life is threatened, he won't do it.

Answer 5

You have to add in the costs of everything else as well.
Aircraft and personal
Warships and crews. An aircraft carrier costs more than $1M a day to operate
Ammunition Trucks Tanks and other vehicles.
The logistic forces.
At last count that I heard of, for every soldier on the front line has 3 people supporting him

Answer 6

You forgot about the cost of nation building which is happening at the same time as the war so it is also a big part of the costs. I think. I'm really just taking an educated guess on this one. But it sounds logical.

Answer 7

A dollar doesnt get you what it used to, it costs a lot of money to keep our arms forces mobilized, I worked for the department of defense for years Ive seen how our boys and Americans in general get treated in foreign lands and was surprised to find out what it costs just for one aircraft carrier to be on site and operating for one day/week...if all the whiners had family out there wearing desert camos in a hot zone they wouldn't be thinking of holding out money or not sending out more troops

Answer 8

Money is coming from the defense procurement.Liberals often twist things to their benefit.When they say republicans are cutting social security even though it's budget is increasing.They set an amount to increase and if it goes up less they say it's being cut ,same old crap.

Answer 9

You are right in calculations,but forget to consider extra people in Iraq and in US working as support personal.Those people are political appointees or people with no bid contracts.Those are the people getting all that money.

Answer 10

Don't forget the billions lost to fraud and overpricing by many of the contractors.

And losing helicopters every other day adds up.