The Sins of the Warmongers Visited on the Children and Grandchildren to the Third and Fourth Generations . . .

They always underestimate the cost of war.  It stands to reason.  For if Americans were to be truthfully informed up front what the costs in national treasure and blood were likely to be, most would think twice about supporting politicians who vote for these destructive and ultimately failed military ventures.

The U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will cost taxpayers $4 trillion to $6 trillion, taking into account the medical care of wounded veterans and expensive repairs to a force depleted by more than a decade of fighting, according to a new study by a Harvard researcher.

Washington increased military benefits in late 2001 as the nation went to war, seeking to quickly bolster its talent pool and expand its ranks. Those decisions and the protracted nation-building efforts launched in both countries will generate expenses for years to come, Linda J. Bilmes, a public policy professor, wrote in the report that was released Thursday.

“As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy, research and development and new military initiatives,” the report says. “The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come.”

Bilmes said the United States has spent almost $2 trillion already for the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those costs, she said, are only a fraction of the ultimate price tag. The biggest ongoing expense will be providing medical care and disability benefits to veterans of the two conflicts.

“Historically, the bill for these costs has come due many decades later,” the report says.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/study-iraq-afghan-war-costs-to-top-4-trillion/2013/03/28/b82a5dce-97ed-11e2-814b-063623d80a60_story.html


Perhaps someday a clear majority of Americans will collectively cease the blind believing in all of the lies that our political leaders peddle to us in order to evince our support for their wars of choice - wars which post WWII history has shown repeatedly, benefit nobody but the war lover's military-industrial-complex stock portfolios.



----TFG