Iraq War Costs Could Top $2 Trillion Before Its Over

A new study by Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize Winner in economics in the year 2001, and a Harvard lecturer, Linda Bilmes, both conclude that the total costs of the Iraq war could top the $2 trillion mark. Reuters reports this number, which is far above the U.S.'s "pre-war projections". This predicted number takes into account the long term healthcare costs for the 16,000 U.S. soldiers who have been injured or wounded in the war in Iraq thus far. This figure is based on the projection that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq until 2010, with steadily decreasing numbers each year. Government data was also used from past wars, and included such costs as the rise in the price of oil, a larger U.S. deficit, and a greater level of insecurity caused by the war, and the increased costs of recruiting to replenish a military drained by time spent in the Iraq War, in which most losses occured due to deaths and injuries. Before the start of the war, Mitch Daniels, the White House budget director, had said that the war would be very affordable, and said that the idea of other officials, that the war would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion was a "very, very high" number. All of these selections by the new reasearchers are very, very rarely used by the United States officials to determine the price of a war. From this difference, these two economists, Stiglitz and Bilmes, have a very different final price for the war. Of course, Stiglitz has been known as an opposer to the war in Iraq, so his predictions might be a little exaggerated, and will most likely be ignored by the people.
In the history of the United States, the War in Iraq, part of the War Against Terrorism, is one the most expenisve and costly wars. If the War in Iraq is to reach the mark of $2 trillion, it would push the Korean War into the spot for 2nd-most expensive war in American history. The Korean War cost a total of $361 billion, and occured from June 25, 1950, until cease-fire on July 27, 1953. The war involved both North Korea and South Korea, and involved the U.S. fighting with South Korea, against the Communist North Koreans. Hopefully for the U.S.'s sake, the War in Iraq will not come close to $2 trillion.