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Originally Posted by saden1
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That pic/diagram is pretty mind-blowing IMO...
While the current cost may sit around $1 trillion there's two larger points: 1) the ultimate cost, which factors in long-term veteran care costs and other things, at least according the the Nobel prize holder Stiglitz, will cost well over $3 trillion (
The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More) 2) the opportunity cost is literally unfathomable and even under the best case scenario for Iraq I think it's very hard for an honest person to argue that is worth more than the betterment we could have seen domestically (i'm totally w/ Pat Buchanan on this one)
But i think more importantly people should realize Bush did little to nothing to turn things around in Iraq. The tide turned w/ the surge strategy of "clear, hold and build," which was devised by Gen. Jack Keane and implemented within state dept., almost in clandestine fashion, by Condi Rice. Rummy pushed hard against the idea initially and it was only Condi's somewhat devious tactics that got the strategy on the ground. Bush had little to do w/ that; however, as i think is totally expected of the conservative base a women, let alone a minority, was never going to get the credit.
FRONTLINE: endgame: watch online | PBS