Nobel Prize winning Economist: Iraq War may cost over $2 Trillion

(Photo from Aljazeera.com....because we're with the terrorists....that was so totally a joke...the picture really is from Aljazeera.com, though)

Forget that little counter on the right side of the screen, a study released yesterday by the Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz (weren't we just talking about his guy?) says that the cost of the Iraq war could exceed $2 trillion by factoring in the long term costs of things like healthcare for wounded soldiers (remember all that "We support our troops stuff"?).

I'm sure this "Stiglitz" guy is just some anti-war hippy whose just bitter that we're scaring the hell out of people who hate freedom. These guys are just looking for ways to make Democracies hard to build.

Wait a minute. Two trillion dollars? Flashback: Mitch Daniels, pre-War 2003, the now-former White House Budget dude (official title), shrugged off $100 - $200 Billion as "likely very, very high," and predicted that the "affordable endeavor" would be about would cost a pretty $50 to $60 Billion.

Oh...Those were the days, weren't they?

Here's some details about the study:

The higher $2 trillion amount takes a 'moderate' approach. Both figures are based on the projection that US troops will remain in Iraq until 2010, with steadily decreasing numbers each year. The economists also used government data from past wars, and included such costs as the rise in the price of oil, a larger US deficit and greater global insecurity caused by the war, the loss to the economy from injured veterans who cannot contribute as productively as they would have done if not injured, and the increased costs of recruiting to replenish a military drained by repeated tours of duty in Iraq. These are items which are almost never included by the US government when determining the cost of the war.

I mean, seriously, when are these people going to stop criticizing our war president. Doesn't he know that even if the information is bad, you're not supposed to present it until after the war. Doesn't he know the sacrifices Bush has made for this country.

Sorry, this has turned into a rant. How very unprofessional.

To be fair, there are people who recognize this obvious liberal "pooh-poohing" campaign.

Democracy is on the march, holes are being smoked out. All that stuff.