War tab swamps Bush’s estimate; spending projection: $150 billion by 2005

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/09/MNGOU6IK1J1.DTL

With troop commitments growing, the cost of the war in Iraq could top $150 billion through the next fiscal year — as much as three times what the White House had originally estimated. And, according to congressional researchers and outside budget experts, the war and continuing occupation could total $300 billion over the next decade, making this one of the costliest military campaigns in modern times.

As a measure of the Bush administration’s priorities in the war on terrorism, it has spent about $3 in Iraq for every $1 committed to homeland security, experts say.

That divide may be growing.

The Pentagon says its monthly costs for Operation Iraqi Freedom shot up from $2.7 billion in November to nearly $7 billion in January, the last month for which it has provided figures. Since then, the number of troops has jumped by 20,000 to 135,000, and the bloody insurgency has grown.

more

[Scooter24]

1. And what does that $300 billion buy us?

Nothing...Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are still going strong.

But I'm sure the Iraqi people will be happy knowing they wasted so much of our money on them.

Time to raise the Doom Level to- Orange (Free prozac curtesy of the Democratic National Party)

</sarcasm>

[UpInArms]

2. what are they talking about $150 billion?

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2003_04/warbudget_apr03.asp

Bush Asks for Nearly $75 Billion To Assist War Effort

Wade Boese

Days after the United States launched a military attack against Iraq, the Bush administration submitted a nearly $75 billion emergency budget request March 25 to Congress to help cover war expenses during fiscal year 2003. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that additional war costs would be covered in future spending bills.

Rumsfeld told lawmakers March 27 that although the total cost of the war is unknowable at this point, $30.3 billion of the emergency request has already been spent or committed.

If Congress approves the request unaltered, the largest portion, almost $63 billion, would flow to the Pentagon. Most of the Pentagon’s slice, $53 billion, is devoted to mobilization costs for the Iraq war. An additional $3.7 billion would be used to replace munitions, such as laser-guided bombs and Patriot missile interceptors, used in the fighting. Another $1.1 billion is tabbed for procuring additional weapons and military equipment, including chemical and biological detection and decontamination gear. Classified activities would receive $1.7 billion.

The budget request reflects the Bush administration’s confidence that its military attack against Iraq will succeed. In addition to $2.4 billion for an Iraq relief and reconstruction fund, the proposal would authorize the president to divert as much as $50 million from Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs to secure and destroy Russian weapons of mass destruction. The money could be used to establish similar projects in countries outside of the former Soviet Union, and the request singles out Iraq as a potential case.

...more...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/09/politics/main572278.shtml

Iraq Policy Bashed

(CBS/AP) Senate critics of President Bush's handling of Iraq said Tuesday a "go-it-alone approach" has left Americans paying too much of the cost — with his request for $87 billion being only the latest installment.

During four hours of intense questioning by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Pentagon officials said the burden on U.S. troops should ease as Iraqi security forces are trained. They also expressed confidence that more countries will provide troops and money and said the Bush administration is willing to cede some authority in Iraq to win that support.

"The more other countries are prepared to contribute, the more they're absolutely entitled to share in control over how resources are used," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said.

...more...

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/127/wash/Bush_may_seek_more_than_50_bil:.shtml

Bush may seek more than $50 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan for next year

By Alan Fram, Associated Press, 5/6/2004 18:48

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush may seek more money for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan next year than the $50 billion figure his budget director cited months ago, White House officials say.

The acknowledgment comes amid growing doubts in Congress that the amount will be enough to finance U.S. operations in the two countries, especially in an increasingly violent Iraq. Lawmakers also say they will probably give the administration less leeway than it wants in spending the money.

Joshua Bolten, Bush's budget chief, cited $50 billion in February as ''the upper limit'' for what might be spent for the wars next year. But administration officials, who have repeatedly said they can't predict what will be needed, said this week that the figure has been misinterpreted and that they might request more or less than that.

...more...

When I put those numbers ($75B, $87B and $50B) in my calculator, I come up with $212 BILLION.

I sure am tired of the "fuzzy math" these people do.

[leftchick]

3. fuzzy math indeed...

It is frustrating to hear tv newspeople and our own members in congress say the cost so far has been 87 Billion. WTF? They really do think we can not add!

[leQ]

4. costofwar.com has it at 113,131,290,000+

n/t

[central scrutinizer]

7. fuzzy accounting

Wasn't the 87 billion for "reconstruction", i.e. payback for campaign contributions to Bushco cronies? If so, they are probably not counting that as part of the "war" cost and have that number in another set of books.

[UpInArms]

8. only $20.3B was for reconstruction

and only 5% of that has currently been spent on reconstruction - that $20.3 is now being used to pay for "security"

also see:

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/128/wash/Abuse_will_make_jobs_of_U_S_ai:.shtml

The reconstruction effort already has been hampered, especially during the past month during sporadic violence and tense military standoffs between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents. The situation has forcing Westerners involved in local governance, community development and other projects to flee Fallujah, Najaf and other areas, Natsios said.

Elsewhere, the cost of providing security to workers involved in reconstruction has risen, averaging between 10 percent and 20 percent of all the money being spent, Natsios said. USAID has been allocated $3.8 billion of the $18.4 billion set aside for reconstruction so far.

Moreover, since the security situation deteriorated at the beginning of April, roughly three out of 10 Americans and other non-Iraqis involved in USAID-financed reconstruction projects have left the country, Natsios said.

[teryang]

9. It is $212 Billion

That includes Afghanistan and 20 Billion in contractor expenses for reconstruction (which includes the costs for 20,000 mercenaries.)

On edit:

Take us to 2005 means it will all be gone by September 30, 2005. 50 billion is far less a month than the current expenses per month and doesn't include the cost of mobilizing new divisions to facilitate the troop rotation for the forces that are there now:

<The numbers shoot even higher if, as some have proposed, the military has to create new divisions to bolster its overstretched forces.>

"Proposed" as if it's a hypothetical that we need more legs on the ground.

[cliss]

10. Exactly, UIA. My first thought, exactly.

I'm a Senior Accountant, and I count money all day long. I've been trying to keep track of the cost of this insane adventure, but it's tough. So far, I'm at $160 billion for the total cost. So the figures up above are total bull-crap.

It's strange, though, because all of a sudden new billions appear out of thin air. I keep wondering who's keeping track. I mean really keeping track, like with a ledger book or some kind of accountability.

Is anyone doing this? And why do these new figures keep popping up, like a Jack in the Box?

[davekriss]

17. I was about to make the same point

till I saw yours. Though I thought the current numbers were $79 billion before the illegal invasion; $87 billion after the illegal invasion; and $25 billion to be asked for now -- totalling $191 billion.

But, hey, $212 billion or $191 billion, what's $21 billion between friends? At a cost of about $4 billion per month to occupy Iraq and given the pre-war estimates for the need to remain there for at least 10 years, the total rises to $671 billion.

Iraq did not represent an immediate threat to the United States. The post WWII policies of Deterrence and Containment served us very well. The no-fly zones, the sanctions, the inspection regimes, and international cooperation in the battle to contain the spread of WMD technology -- these things are the reasons no WMD were found in Iraq in 2003. Saddam Hussein was very successfully contained within his borders after 1991; he had been very successfully deterred from pursuing additional WMD. There was no reason to go to war in 2003.

And the cost of Deterrence and Containment? $4 billion per year. Over 10 years, that means $40 billion. So the cost of Bush's Folly? $631 billion ... the credibility of the United States ... the good will of nations ...

To put it in perspective, the 2005 budget calls for $633 billion to fund Education, Health/Human Services, HUD, Food/Nutrition programs, the Labor Department, and Social Security.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. Some idiots said it would pay for itself via Iraqi oil.

So it's been infinately more expensive than we were told. Add the priceless cost of the dead and...

[saigon68]

6. NeoCon Corporate Profits UP

Pass the Champagne

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Sham-pain?

:shrug:

[skooooo]

11. omg...We could have sent kids to college and filled the libraries...

...with that money. But, now we are going to flush it down the toilet of this Republican-led debacle in Iraq.

[catmandu57]

15. It's a shame isn't it

An education lasts a lifetime and can be passed on, books can be read countless times. On the other hand a bullet or bomb once they are exploded they are gone forever.
We have a sick value system. If we had put 212 billion into this country, new water systems, sewer systems, roads, healthcare, now it's gone.

[Jacobin]

13. Wanna see Another Bad Bush Oil Deal.....the Real Numbers?

Pre-invasion, Iraq was exporting 2 million barrels of oil a day. They have been struggling to get it back up to that because of Iraqis sabotaging the theft of the oil.

Let's say they are lucky enough to get it back to pre-war levels, which is doubtful.

At 2 million barrels a day at $40 a barrel, it comes to $80 million per day (if you don't even count the cost of production).

$80 million a day in oil sales times 365 days equals a bit over $29 billion a year.

The invasion and occupation is costing $150 billion a year.

Another Bad Bush Oil Deal.

[AussieInCA]

14. they can call it OilLand Security..then it can be all the same money

[RedEarth]

16. Sounds like it's about time for another TAX CUT....

Bush logic......

[swinney]

18. 166 Billion has been authorized. wants 25B more rush rush