Iraq War Cost Less Than Expected

[southerngale]

Short conflict, less ammo kept war cost down
By Laurence McQuillan, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — A short conflict that used fewer missiles, sparked fewer oil field fires and created fewer refugees than anticipated produced a lower-than-expected financial cost for the major combat in Iraq.

Officials say the war lasted 26 days, from the launching of the first missiles March 19 until mid-April.

That means President Bush won't have to go back to Congress for additional funding this year, a step that could have revived the debate over the war.

A detailed account of expenses won't be complete for months, but senior administration officials say the cost of deployment and combat will be just less than the $62.6 billion Congress approved in March as emergency funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is the first time officials have offered a tally.

The price for the combat phase is about $220 per American. The Persian Gulf War in 1991 cost $76 billion in today's dollars. Though other countries financed 80% of that war, the United States is bearing most of the cost of this conflict.

"The business plan for the war was roughly as successful as the military plan," Mitch Daniels said in an interview last week before he left the administration after two years as budget director. "The projections look pretty darn good."

Those projections offer a window into the administration's prewar expectations. What kept war costs down:

*The administration budgeted for the military buildup and 30 days of heavy fighting and bombing, followed by several months of skirmishes. Officials say the war lasted 26 days, from the launching of the first missiles March 19 until mid-April, when Iraqi political and religious leaders met with U.S. officials on forming an interim government.

*Fewer expensive high-tech weapons were fired. For example, as many as 200 anti-missile Patriots were expected to be fired, but less than 25 were used. Each Patriot costs $2.3 million.

*Planners had earmarked $489 million to put out as many as 500 oil well fires that Iraqis might ignite. Fewer than 10 wells were set ablaze, which cost about $5 million to extinguish the fires and repair damage.

*Planners budgeted $593 million to care for as many as 2 million refugees, a problem avoided when urban combat was less extensive than expected. The refugee count was less than 100,000. In addition, $200 million was earmarked for emergency food supplies for Iraqis, but no major shortages occurred.

*Troops are staying longer. The plan called for shipping more than 400,000 troops and equipment to the region and returning most of them within six months, at a round-trip cost of $30 billion. Now, at least 160,000 troops are staying in Iraq indefinitely, which means the cost of bringing them home can be deferred.

Daniels and other officials have refused to estimate the costs of the postwar violence, peacekeeping and reconstruction in Iraq, and that has prompted complaints from Capitol Hill.

"This stretches the tolerance and good humor of members," said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent policy research institute, said the five-year cost for U.S. peacekeeping could exceed $100 billion. Estimates for rebuilding Iraq run as high as $30 billion a year for the next decade.

[M2]

Statistics can be manipulated to prove whatever point one wants to make
at the time...they're very 'fluid'. Additional money will be needed to close the jobs...
Case in point:

1) Who hasn't been caught yet? (Captain Insaneo)

2) Which group was perceived as dessimated, then held a couple
interviews threatening even worse death & destruction - and
is again causing havoc? (Al Qaeda)

3) Which country still has major problems beyond belief and it still
taking wacks at our troops? (Iraq)

4) Which nearly-7-foot-tall civil engineer is still alive & planning
to do us all in? (bin Laden)


Anyone want to take a crack at pricing out these 'remediations'...

[Stephanie]

Statistics can be manipulated to prove whatever point one wants to make
at the time...they're very 'fluid'. Additional money will be needed to close the jobs...
Case in point:

1) Who hasn't been caught yet? (Captain Insaneo)

2) Which group was perceived as dessimated, then held a couple
interviews threatening even worse death & destruction - and
is again causing havoc? (Al Qaeda)

3) Which country still has major problems beyond belief and it still
taking wacks at our troops? (Iraq)

4) Which nearly-7-foot-tall civil engineer is still alive & planning
to do us all in? (bin Laden)


Anyone want to take a crack at pricing out these 'remediations'...

Not me! Plus the continued search for WMD's...

[wx247]

I think that all in all the war went well and that the price tag was less than expected, however, as the article and subseuqent posts point out, how much will the long-term cost, will it ever end, and what price can you put on safety?

[southerngale]

I think all in all the war went well too.

There's long-term costs for everything...we STILL have troops in Korea - 50 years after the war!!