The Three Trillion Dollar War

February 23, 2008
The Three Trillion Dollar War

The Bush Administration was wrong about the benefits of the war and it was
wrong about the costs of the war. The president and his advisers expected a
quick, inexpensive conflict. Instead, we have a war that is costing more than
anyone could have imagined.

The cost of direct US military operations - not even including long-term
costs such as taking care of wounded veterans - already exceeds the cost of the
12-year war in Vietnam and is more than double the cost of the Korean War.

And, even in the best case scenario, these costs are projected to be almost
ten times the cost of the first Gulf War, almost a third more than the cost of
the Vietnam War, and twice that of the First World War. The only war in our
history which cost more was the Second World War, when 16.3 million U.S. troops
fought in a campaign lasting four years, at a total cost (in 2007 dollars,
after adjusting for inflation) of about $5 trillion (that's $5 million million,
or £2.5 million million). With virtually the entire armed forces
committed to fighting the Germans and Japanese, the cost per troop (in today's
dollars) was less than $100,000 in 2007 dollars. By contrast, the Iraq war is
costing upward of $400,000 per troop.