The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict Review

The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict ReviewThree trillion dollars for the war in Iraq is an incredible amount, almost beyond comprehension, and certainly far beyond the figures provided by the Bush administration. Yet this total is made both credible and comprehensible through the documentation of Joseph Stiglitz (2001 Nobel Prize-winner in economics, and Professor at Columbia) and Linda Bilmes, Harvard University expert on public policy and finance.
Compelling alternative uses for the money are numerous. For example, we could have put Social Security on sound financial footing for a fraction of that cost, and avoided the nearly 4,000 American deaths (plus $500,000/death benefits) and 100,000 estimated Iraqi deaths - plus an untold number of seriously wounded and their long-term disability and health costs. (Stiglitz found that 40% of Gulf War troops were declared disabled, and that was only a one month war; he sees Pentagon estimates of Gulf War II wounded and disabled as grossly understated, and documents that conclusion. Another key point - peak disability expenditures for WWII veterans did not occur until 1993; thus this war will affect spending decades into the future.) Alternatively, America's trillion dollar+ infrastructure needs could be met with only half that expense.
Other costs include skyrocketing re-enlistment bonuses (up to $150,000 - their alternative is personal safety or much higher-paid private security work), the extra costs of using reserve and guard troops, up to $1,222/day for private security guards to replace servicemen paid less than one-sixth that, lost billions to reconstruct Iraq and spent in non-competitive bidding, and massive equipment replacement costs.
Then there are the opportunity costs associated with spending the money overseas, with no return to the American economy, increased pressure on the dollar, and the likely increased cost of oil. Finally, what about the interest costs of financing this war with debt, and our increased reliance on foreign nations holding that debt?
Supposedly this war is being fought to promote democracy. Yet, as Stiglitz points out, it is being mostly sold and funded through hiding the costs from the public. Continuing our presence in Iraq may, with interest, raise the total to $6-7 trillion. Meanwhile, bin Laden roams free, and even more Islamicists hate us.
"The Three Trillion Dollar War" is MUST reading.The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict Overview

Want to learn more information about The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

0 comments:

Post a Comment