IRAQ COSTS WILL SURPASS WORLD WAR II

The war in Iraq will cost more than World War II, according to economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. Making matters worse, the gains many economists say we should expect from waging war will not appear.

In Stiglitz’s new book, The Three Trillion Dollar War, he and co-author Linda Bilmes argue that the real costs of the war in Iraq are $3 trillion. World War II, adjusted for inflation, cost the United States $5 trillion. Stiglitz said the $3 trillion figure is "conservative” and was made deliberately low to offset political criticism that, as a former Clinton adviser, he might be motivated to exaggerate the costs. And the effects of the spiraling war costs are already being felt.

In an interview with the NY Times Stiglitz said, "To offset that depressing effect, the Fed has flooded the economy with liquidity and the regulators looked the other way when very imprudent lending was going up"

Initial comments on the news from the Military.com forum is not good for President Bush ...

For that cost back in the 40's, we thrashed three global powers, in a war fought all over the world, and forced them into unconditional surrender. And, in about half the time. Today, we've overthrown two regimes in two relatively insignificant countries and can't even consolidate those gains or ensure that equally evil regimes don't come along and replace them. Not much to show for all that, is it?

And the commentary at Military.com only gets worse.

- Mark