CSM: Are Iraq war costs spinning out of control?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0507/p14s01-cogn.html

Are Iraq war costs spinning out of control?
The tab is $423 billion and rising, prompting economists to reassess US military and homeland security costs.
By David R. Francis | Columnist of The Christian Science Monitor

Page 1 of 2

The invasion of Iraq was launched four years ago with a "shock and awe" display of American military might. As bombs fell, Baghdad's skyline lit up.

Today, United States taxpayers are faced with a bill for the war that could also inspire shock and awe.

Through Sunday, the war's cost was $423 billion, according to an online cost meter posted by the National Priorities Project, a Washington advocacy group (http://costofwar.com/index.html).The last five digits on the meter are spinning far faster than the electricity meter in your home. Last Wednesday, the bill was $422 billion.

The mounting financial burden is prompting various think-tank experts to reassess the nation's military and homeland security costs.

Reviewing what Congress has approved so far for war spending, Steven Kosiak, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, reckons $370 billion for Iraq, $100 billion for Afghanistan, and $30 billion for homeland security activities. That adds up to $500 billion for the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

more...

if we had sane, reasonable leadership. bushco has bankrupted our country.

You cannot finance a war with supplemental spending bills forever, without it affecting the bottom line of the budget.

You can move obligations around, place payment dates in the future, but eventually it drains the funds available to pay general budget obligations. ANd if you refuse to address it for years, like we have with the funding of this war, it grows exponentially same as letting a credit card balance with a high interest rate roll over each month after paying the minimum payment.

It will eventually have to become part of the budget and it will drain resources needed to fund other important government programs. The only way to avoid this consequence will be to raise taxes.

I followed the COSTOFWAR link-within-the-link to nationalpriorities.org, for some additional telling information:

"...soldiers' regular pay is not included, but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as <<future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included>> {saw a recent estimate of $150 billion for veterans' medical care}. It is also not clear whether the current funding will cover all military wear and tear. It <<also does not account for the Iraq War being deficit-financed and that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to those deficits>>."

(how DO I make something appear in bold typeface or italics????)

Not only has Bushco damaged the US' integrity and standing internationally for GENERATIONS if not forever, but they have also quite probably broken the economic back of the US.