Iraq War Costs: Was It Worth It?

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business...mense-cost-of-invading-iraq-in-charts/274290/
The Atlantic article discusses the direct costs of the 2003-2011 Iraq war to the U.S. government.

But Stiglitz and Bilnes see the total cost to the U.S. gov't as over $3 trillion, likely lasting over 100 years or more.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-03-09/opinions/36903374_1_cost-iraq-world-war-ii

Once you are talking about a trillion dollars, you are talking about a lot of money. (Note we're not really even talking about costs to the Iraqi people).

 

I don't go in for minutae, so speaking in a broad sense, I'll say this: For those who make $ off of war -- contractors, some military top brass, some people involved in the export business, etc -- the war has been lucrative. For those who suffered under Saddam's heel, well, you'd have to ask them, I suppose, if their current situation is any better or if they are merely under another heel now. But as for the workaday American citizen? I don't think the war helped them in the slightest, and I can think of a lot of better uses to which that money could have been spent. And I don't mean socialist uses, either, I mean things like roads, R&D in areas such as medicine and health, efficient transportation for the purposes of trade, and other such things that could all be done capitalistically.

the Iraq war established the USA as a still viable military force that could kick a lot of foreign tush (as if the world didn't already know that) but also established it as a country with a rather spotty record when it comes to domestic policy.

 

No. It was not worth it. And not because of the money spent.

 

War under false pretences? no, it was not worth it, ask the bodies of the dead.

 

I hate to say it, but I really don't think this is the right question. The Iraq war happened. That they weren't a threat to us at the time is elementary and that the war was started under false pretenses is obvious. That the war served to destabilize the region it purported to protect while siphoning resources away from a far more important conflict (Afghanistan) is also pretty clear.

That said, none of us have a crystal ball (at least not one that works). It's obvious that we *shouldn't* have gone to war in Iraq, since the pretenses under which the war was fought proved to be utterly false. Hell, it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention at the time. I stop short of saying it wasn't worth the cost. To say that, I'd need to know what things would be like now had we not invaded. We don't know that. For all we know, the war prevented a Zombie apocalypse.

 

I've talked to a few Iraqis and their view is kinda "meh". Saddam was bad, the civil disorder after his disposal is bad. Their view seems to be that it kinda all evened out. The ones I have spoken to have no major hard feelings against the US though. More frustrated with their own people's inability to work together. Probably why they are in Sweden instead of home.