The Three Trillion Dollar War

The Three Trillion Dollar War - The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict by Joseph E Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes.

Two economists, experts in government finance, have joined forces to produce a very well-researched volume on the real costs of America's war in Iraq. 

As the authors say, the pre-war estimates were said to be around $50 million, but after about 6 years in Iraq, the USA has run up costs that the authors show clearly amount to at least 3 TRILLION dollars, much of which has been borrowed.  Keep in mind that this book was published in 2008 and obviously does not include costs from more recent years.

The authors go on to examine the reasons for these costs, including the need to deal with all the disabled veterans, a massive problem that isn't being dealt with well even now.

There are massive accounting problems within the Department of Defense, which almost seem to reflect an intention to keep the true cost from the rest of the nation.

There are also international economic problems that the war has created and, not least of all, the massive damage done to America's reputation in much of the world.

Of interest to Canadians, especially at this time in our history, is that our present government seems determined to drag Canada into this quagmire.  This time the excuse for war is to do battle with ISIS rather than because of the fraudulent "weapons of mass destruction" story, weapons which were never found.

Canadians need to read this book and decide if we want a similar fate for our country.