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The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq. "This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month," Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. 18. His remarks came in support of adding $70 billion to the omnibus fiscal 2008...

   Cost of US Wars Compared to Population, GDP and Federal Expenditures War US Population GDP NominalWar Cost Real War Cost War Cost as % of GDP Total  Federal Expenditures War Cost as % of Total Federal Expenditures Total Federal Expenditures as % of GDP War of 1812 8 1342 .09 1.2 .09       Mexican 20 1880 .07 0.7 .04       WBTS 30 2606 5.2 44.4 1.7 13.8 197.8 .53 Spanish-American 75 4943 0.4 6.3 .13 12.1 52.1 .24 WWI 103 5910 26 196.7 3.33 159.9 123.01 2.71 WWII 140 13483 288 2,092 15.52 876.8 238.6...

America's Superpower Days are Over by Paul Craig Roberts Posted Jan 11, 2006 President George W. Bush has destroyed America's economy, along with America's reputation as a truthful, compassionate, peace-loving nation that values civil liberties and human rights. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University budget expert Linda Bilmes have calculated the cost to Americans of Bush's Iraq war to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion. This figure is 5 to 10 times higher than the $200 billion that Bush's economic adviser Larry Lindsey estimated. Lindsey was fired by Bush because his estimate was three times higher than...

(AP) — How the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other anti-terrorism operations by the Defense Department since Sept. 11, 2001, compares to costs of past wars. So far, $165 billion has been provided for U.S. military activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and other anti-terror efforts, according to an October 2003 report by the Congressional Research Service, which conducts research for lawmakers. That amount excludes the additional $25 billion Bush administration officials said Wednesday that they are requesting. Figures on past wars' costs to U.S. taxpayers are from a Congressional Research Service report from September 2003. The price tags...

Capture Won't Mean Much I don't believe the capture of Saddam Hussein will have any effect on the guerrilla war being conducted against Americans and their Iraqi allies. Saddam's power was always his ability to command and control. The day he went on the run, he lost that power. He couldn't command or control anyone. On the contrary, he was at the mercy of those willing to hide him and those who might choose to betray him. As his pictures show, he's a tired, worn-out old geezer. One has to give him credit for being much more slippery than the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 — Congress broke for Thanksgiving with a final burst of partisan recriminations over the conduct of a session that produced Medicare changes, tax cuts and hard feelings certain to spill over into the 2004 campaign. Republican leaders, who labeled Democrats obstructionists, celebrated the addition of prescription drug coverage to the Medicare insurance program as just the latest in a string of accomplishments that could improve their appeal with a range of voters. Democrats asserted that Republicans, in their drive to prove they could deliver when controlling both the House and the Senate, badly bent Congressional rules and...

Which of the following U.S. military conflicts has the highest direct costs, measured as % of annual U.S. GDP during the period?(Answer the quiz question here)A. Korean War (1950-1953) B. Vietnam War (1964-1972) C. 10 times projected costs for Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2003?) D. War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Melissa Gilbert. Wasn't she on Little House on the Prarie? Oh, her name is McDermott. Well, she has a BSc in Broadcast News from the University of Kansas, doesn't she? (A science degree in broadcast news?) She and her CBS husband, Todd, used to co-anchor the news in Kansas, didn't they? That's where the little house was, isn't it? (Or was that where the yellow brick road was?) Anyway, both Melissas make a living reading fictional scripts, don't they?. Quantico, Virginia – the woman in the gas mask laying on her side in the willows is not dead. She is...

Short Iraq war would cost world $A1 trillion - study FRIDAY , 21 FEBRUARY 2003 CANBERRA: A short war with Iraq could cost the world 1 per cent of its economic output over the next few years and more than $A1 trillion ($NZ1.1 trillion) by 2010, Australian researchers said in a report yesterday. A long war could more than triple the costs, they said. The compounding effects of rising oil prices, extra budget spending and economic uncertainty could cut $A173 billion from the world economy in 2003 alone, said the researchers, Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin and...