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War in Iraq Video - The Cost, Consequences Ramifications

Uploaded by: rosaryfilms
Video Description:
In The Cost of War, Iraq war veterans recount their views prior to deployment, their experiences in Iraq, and how those experiences changed them. Families and loved ones of those called on to fight in Iraq recount how the experiences of their loved ones have affected those they left behind. The war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over a trillion dollars -- at least double what has already been spent -- including the long-term costs of replacing damaged equipment, caring for wounded troops, and aiding the Iraqi government, according to a new government analysis. The United States has already allocated more than $500 billion on the day-to-day combat operations of what are now 190,000 troops and a variety of reconstruction efforts. In a report to lawmakers yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that even under the rosiest scenario -- an immediate and substantial reduction of troops -- American taxpayers will feel the financial consequences of the war for at least a decade. The calculations include the estimated cost to leave some US forces behind for at least several years to support the Iraqi government, but they also predict other long-term costs, such as extended medical care and disability compensation for wounded soldiers and survivor's benefits for the families of the thousands of combat-zone fatalities. The cost of the war in Iraq and other military operations has soared to the point where "we are now spending on these activities more than 10 percent of all the government's annually appropriated funds," said Robert A. Sunshine, the budget office's assistant director for budget analysis. The U.S. military spends roughly a billion dollars a week on the Iraq occupation. (In contrast, Afghanistan occupation costs about a billion dollars a month). Of course, these figures fluctuate. But these are military costs, and do not include reconstruction efforts. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the cost of "prosecuting" a war against Iraq at up to $9 billion per month, on top of an initial outlay of up to $13 billion for the deployment of troops to the Persian Gulf region. In a letter to the House and Senate budget committees, CBO provided Congress with cost estimates for an armed conflict with Iraq, based on recent similar U.S. military operations including those in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the 1990 Gulf War. Summary of Iraq War Cost Estimates. CBO estimated the following costs for an Iraq war: Initial deployment of troops: $9 billion to $13 billion. Conducting the war: $6 billion to $9 billion per month. Returning forces to US: $5 billion to $7 billion. Temporary occupation of Iraq: $1 billion to $4 billion per month. Unknown Factors Involved. In arriving at their estimates, CBO acknowledged that exact costs would depend on several "unknown factors" including: actual force size deployed; duration of the conflict; strategy employed; number of casualties; military equipment lost need for reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure; Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike