When the Iraq invasion was launched, Pentagon officials said it would be financed in large part by Iraqi oil money. The estimated for the United States was $50 billion. Five years later, the reality is higher by orders of magnitude. A Nobel Prize winning economist pegs the cost at $3 trillion. That includes combat, debt on borrowed money and restoring the military, not to mention the staggering cost of caring for wounded veterans for the rest of their lives. We hear how the expenses got so high and what they'll mean for the economy, future generations and national security.
The Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan...for the Next Hundred Years
Credits
Guests:
- Linda J. Bilmes - Harvard University
- Stephen Moore - Heritage Foundation - @StephenMoore
- Lawrence Korb - Center for American Progress Action Fund - @LarryKorb
- Dan Goure - Lexington Institute - @dgoure