Joe Conason complains that John McCain isn’t practicing his fabled straight-talk when it comes to the like total financial costs of the Iraq War. He is, of course, right to complain, as I think most politicians, pundits and other so-called experts on this war often seem to have no idea or concern for how much this terrible decision will end up costing. Many seem content with simply stating it remains a “mystery”.
He bases his criticism, in part, on the argument that the real financial costs will total in the trillions of Dollars, citing a new book by Nobel Prize-Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. In his new book, Professor Stiglitz argues that “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.”*
Conason also points out that the manner in which this war is continually being financed, namely via deficit spending while cutting taxes, is almost as significant a problem as the price tag itelf, as monstrous a debt that it represents. The fact that the US is borrowing money from China and other foreign nations to continue the war in Iraq is just one issue most experts don’t like to mention.
Update: Also, be sure to check out this article by William Hartung in Asia Times Online; he provides some much-needed cotextual analysis.
The price tag continues to rise, and payment will eventually come due.
*I hope to finish The Trillion Dollar War by the end of March-early April and have a book review completed soon after.
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