The rising cost of the Afghan and Iraq wars is always a serious concern, though it really only gets discussed when a major new spending bill is passed or a new milestone is hit.
Tonight it is the later, as Costofwar.com, the maker of a popular Javascript ticker that estimates the current costs of the war, has seen its estimate pass the $1 trillion mark earlier today.
Costofwar’s estimate is based on the amount of money allocated to the war in the current and previous fiscal years, but other estimates suggest that the true cost runs into the several trillion dollar range.
The milestone is largely symbolic, however it is useful, to quote one activity, to “make sure voters and constituents and people in general understand that when they’re talking about adding billions, that’s on top of $1 trillion that we’ve spent on these two wars.”
With America stumbling into the realm of record budget deficits on the back of record military expenditures and a floundering global economy, the sacred cow that is war spending is expected to become an issue going forward. This is particularly true as after eight and a half years, there is still no end in sight to the wars.
This does not include interest since it is financed by the proceeds of the proceeds of the Treassury bonds. This at least triples the cost as calculated by Economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he'd punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin' that dam
Cause he had high hopes
He had high apple pie in the sky hopes
[kahn/van heusen]
Rarely mentioned when discussing war costs is how these disastrous interventions are being financed. The politicians know that if Americans had to pay for the imperial adventures and the wars directly through taxation, they would have ended long ago, as we would have revolted.
Only through borrowing and Fed monetization can the costs be hidden from the public. Our foreign lenders need to cut us off, and Congress needs to disband the Fed before it ruins our money, our economy, and our liberties.
Thank Israel.