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?
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.