The Cost of the Iraq War
In 2008, Nobel Economics Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard scholar Linda Bilmes wrote The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. Testifying before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in 2013, however, Stiglitz stated that the eventual costs of the war “would easily be in the $4 trillion range.”
Overall US cost for the $4 trillion Iraq War: US—325 Million population (November 2016), $12,308 per person.
State population figures (2015) and war cost (all population and money figures rounded off): California: 39.1 Million and $481 Billion; New York State: 19.8 Million and $244 Billion; New Jersey: 9 million and $111 Billion; Oregon: 3.8 million and $47.2 billion.
City and county population figures (2015) and war cost: Jackson County, OR: 206,000 and $2.5 Billion; Camden, NJ: 77,000 and $948 Million; San Bernardino, CA: 216,000 and $2.6 Billion; Los Angeles: 3,971,000 and $48.9 Billion.
The Economic Crises at Home
We live in a time of great economic distress, when cities, counties and states struggle to repair a crumbling infrastructure, keep libraries and schools open, support essential public safety needs, maintain Medicaid and other healthcare benefits, and provide housing for the homeless—who include untold thousands of veterans. The distressing stories of these economic crises fill our nation’s newspapers. They have one thing in common: there’s a shortage of funds for important human programs that make for a vital and decent society, and this shortage is directly related to the cost of the Iraq War and other endless US wars abroad. Below are some representative stories that highlight these economic crises.
The library board in Camden, New Jersey “is preparing to close all three of its branches by the end of the year, saying its funding has been slashed so drastically that it cannot afford to keep operating.”
The City University of New York faces hard times. The “leaking ceilings have turned hallways into obstacle courses of buckets. The bathrooms sometimes run out of toilet paper. The lectures are becoming uncomfortably overcrowded, and course selections are dwindling, because of steep budget cuts…” Faculty and staff members “have not had a raise in six years.”
New York State “has more than $250 billion in unfunded needs to repair its infrastructure over the next 20 years, but no long-term plan to pay for it.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that pension and healthcare costs for police and firefighters in that city “are projected to rise from $506 million of the general fund budget this year to $789 million by 2016.”
New Jersey has halted all non-essential transportation repairs because its trust fund is nearly out of money.
The New York Times claims that the “former manufacturing behemoth” of Philadelphia is “edging toward a financial precipice … centered on the cash-starved public school system.” It’s a cash-flush city, however, when it comes to funding wars.
One of the most financially distressed cities in the country is San Bernardino, California. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the “once … sturdy, middle class ‘All-America City,’ is now bankrupt … and a symbol of the nation’s worst urban woes.” This was only compounded by the tragic fact that the city had to seek help to pay costs from the terrorist attack there in December 2015.
The Community Action Program of Jackson County, Oregon (ACCESS) provides “food, housing, warmth and other essential services to Jackson County’s low income children, families, seniors and people with disabilities.” ACCESS continues its struggle to find affordable and available rentals for homeless veterans and others who are similarly affected.
At the national level, the New York Times reported that the Postal Service “is Nearing Default as Losses Mount.” It can’t make a $5.5 billion dollar payment due this month and “may have to shut down entirely” if it can’t get help from Congress.
What lessons can be drawn from the staggering cost of the Iraq War?
A nation that wastes trillions on endless wars but cannot afford libraries and schools is one on the verge of fiscal and moral collapse. When we hear that there are no funds to provide housing, jobs, and healthcare for all our people, we only need point to the millions and billions going from our cities, counties, and states to pay for the Iraq War—and other endless wars. We must ultimately decide whether we will fund vital human needs—or unconstitutional and unjust wars that bankrupt us financially and morally.
