by Eric Martin
Steve Clemons tries to suss out the price tag associated with escalation/continuation in the rudderless conflict in Afghanistan:
The White House is suggesting the price tag will be...$1 million per new soldier per year.
And can I add that these figures do not seem to include the long term health costs that the US commits to with our soldiers -- nor other ongoing benefits.
That means that a surge of 40,000 troops will cost approximately $40 Billion on top of the $65 billion/year the US is currently spending on its military deployments.
$105 billion. [...]
The health care bill that is being considered by the Congress now costs approximately $85 billion/year -- just to set some context.
For more context, Afghanistan's nominal GDP was $11.7 billion last year.
That's right. . .$11.7 billion -- and we are considering spending ten times that on this military engagement.
But think of how many American lives we'll save/make qualitatively better with access to health care...an open-ended multi-decade occupation of Afghanistan. It's all about priorities. We can either have a far-flung, interventionist, heavily military-reliant foreign policy, or we can provide the same level of social services as other industrialized nations that have no interest in the former. I'm not even talking about cutting the military budget in half or anything so drastic. Just keeping the foreign adventurism in check, and otherwise looking for common sense reductions where we can find them (and if anyone thinks there is no waste in a Pentagon budget, I've got a new line of bridges to sell you).
As a society, these are the decisions we will have to make. In a sense, America is nearing a crossroads. We can either have a massive presence in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next quarter century and beyond - and perhaps open up some new fronts - or we can cut back on those enormous expenditures and realign our spending priorities to deliver vital services like infrastructure investment and a true medical social safety net.
and perhaps open up some new fronts
ReplyDeletewherever there be OIL there be the usa
wherever there be NATURAL RESOURCES needed by Corporate Amerika, there be the usa
it is as simple as that. there really is not some grand scheme behind whom the usa attacks or occupies ( though why the usa still has post WWII occupation troops in Germany is a puzzle ).
boil it down ( like dick cheney and ken 'enron' lay did ) - roll out the maps - look to see where the OIL is, where the rare Earth Elements are located and you will see the usa there or circling like the vultures they are.
how soon before the usa ( with the assistance of Colombia ) cooks up some bullshit in order to attack Venezuela and steal its OIL ??? note i did not type " if " in the preceding sentence.