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Discussion » Questions » Military » The Iraq war is said to have cost $3 trillion US and Afghanistan war $2trillion US. Why do you think the Afghanistan war was cheaper?

The Iraq war is said to have cost $3 trillion US and Afghanistan war $2trillion US. Why do you think the Afghanistan war was cheaper?

All that money spent on wars and the only winner was the Defense Industry.

Posted - September 11, 2021

Responses


  • 19942
    A lot of our troops and war machinery was already in the Middle East when we invaded Afghanistan.  You're right that only the defense industry was the winner which is why Dwight Eisenhower warned us to be wary of the military-industrial complex.  
      September 11, 2021 11:02 AM MDT
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  • 13251
    Who provided those numbers and based on what information? IMO, they're too rounded to be based on any actual or reliable data. They're more like numbers picked out of the air by media people.
      September 11, 2021 11:14 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    Was an article in today's Guardian by Linda Bilmes "where did the $5 trillion go spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars"? (I would if I could but unable to make a link with my smartphone)

    The big 5 contractors plus oil companies, hundreds of subcontractors

    Plus waste, profiteering, corruption, ghost spending, etc


      September 11, 2021 11:42 AM MDT
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  • 13251
    I would bet dollars to donuts that she has no concrete data and simply picked the numbers out of the air for literary effect and clickbait.
      September 11, 2021 11:46 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    Ha ha, maybe.
      September 11, 2021 11:53 AM MDT
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  • 19942
    This is an interesting article on the costs of war.  It isn't just the money spent on the war itself, but on collateral costs as well, so $5 billion is not a number pulled out of a hat.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/us-taxpayers-spent-8000-each-2-trillion-iraq-war-study-2020-2
      September 11, 2021 12:09 PM MDT
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  • 13251
    I view any large, round figure with skepticism. Perhaps that stems from being an accountant.
      September 11, 2021 1:22 PM MDT
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  • 19942
    I understand, but I'm pretty sure that when we're dealing with the government and that much money, rounded figures are all we're going to get.  I'm not even sure the government could give us a to-the-penny figure.
      September 11, 2021 1:51 PM MDT
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  • 13251
    I'm not that fussy. I would take to the hundred thousand dollars. But you just zeroed in why I'm skeptical. That it's the government and such numbers probably means that nobody really knows so they just guess.
      September 11, 2021 2:05 PM MDT
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  • 19942
    You might be right, but I doubt we'll ever know.
      September 11, 2021 2:30 PM MDT
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  • 13251
    Exactly.
      September 11, 2021 2:39 PM MDT
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