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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (48659)	10/1/2002 7:31:50 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

congress actually says the war will cost $9billion a month. Do you have any information to refute this? Lawmakers Seek Iraq Bill Compromise Tue Oct 1, 9:56 AM ET By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Fighting a full-scale war with Iraq would cost up to $9 billion a month, congressional budget experts said as the Senate prepared to open debate this week on a resolution authorizing President Bush ( news - web sites) to wage that war. AP Photo AP Photo Slideshow: Iraq and Saddam Hussein U.K. Troops Begin Airlift Exercise (AP Video) Diplomatic Efforts Amid Iraq Weapons Talks (Reuters) Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld continued to press the need for tough action against Iraq, citing 67 incidents in the past two weeks of Iraq firing on U.S. and British warplanes patrolling no-fly zones in the country. "With each missile launched at our air crews, Iraq expresses its contempt for U.N. resolutions" demanding that Iraq allow unimpeded weapons inspections and disarm, Rumsfeld said Monday. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office ( news - web sites) in a report Monday said uncertainty about the length and intensity of a war with Iraq made predicting the cost difficult. But it estimated that deploying U.S. forces to the Persian Gulf would cost from $9 billion to $13 billion, and that the monthly cost of combat by either heavy ground or air forces would be $6 billion to $9 billion. Another $5 billion to $7 billion would be required to bring the troops home after a war. The monthly cost of a postwar peacekeeping force — excluding humanitarian aid, reconstruction and the dismantling of weapons of mass destruction — would be $1 billion to $4 billion. "This debate should not be driven by how much it will cost U.S. taxpayers," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D. But he said it was important to keep in mind that three months of combat with a heavy ground force and a five-year occupation by a large U.S. force could cost more than $272 billion. Saying that Iraq's biological and chemical weapons stockpiles and its attempt to attain a nuclear capability are an immediate threat to U.S. security interests, the Bush administration is urging both Congress and the U.N. Security Council to approve resolutions authorizing the use of military force if Iraq does not abide by past demands to disarm. "We believe that one resolution with consequences in it is the way to achieve Iraqi compliance," Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman said Monday night in a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. If Iraq feels the U.N. Security Council is divided, Grossman said, or that "nothing will happen, then nothing happens in Iraq." Rumsfeld said the fact that Iraq continues to fire on U.S. and British warplanes shows that Iraq's claimed willingness to open the country to weapons inspectors was "patently false." Congress, while generally supporting the president's campaign against Iraq, has haggled with the White House over the wording of a resolution authorizing the use of force. Many Democrats, and some Republicans, say that the original White House proposal was too open-ended in ceding authority to the president and did not give enough weight to the importance of crafting a multinational coalition before taking action against Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites). Sen. Chuck Hagel ( news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska, an influential Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed Monday that international cooperation is essential for U.S. success in deposing Saddam. "American power alone cannot carry the day in a project of this magnitude," he said in a speech to the Eisenhower Institute. "It will require substantial assistance from our allies, including our Arab allies. Attempting to rebuild Iraq with only a Western hand would be an enormous mistake." Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., and senior committee member Sen. Richard Lugar ( news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., on Monday circulated an alternative proposal that they said "helps the president attract strong bipartisan support in Congress." Their draft resolution would focus on authorizing the use of force against Iraq as opposed to the entire region and make clear that dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction would be the primary reason for using force. It emphasizes the importance of international support but reserves the right to act unilaterally if the Security Council does not approve a new resolution requiring the timely elimination of Iraq's weapons. The office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said earlier Monday it was ready to begin debate on the issue Tuesday, regardless of progress in reaching a consensus on the language. But Daschle's spokeswoman, Ranit Schmelzer, later said they would put off the start of debate until at least Wednesday, awaiting the outcome of staff-level negotiations and a Wednesday breakfast Bush is hosting for top congressional leaders. The House is expected to take up the resolution some time next week

To: KLP who wrote (48659)	10/1/2002 7:33:46 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Investors have lost 8 Trillion. EIGHT....TRILLION. Stocks Close Month, Quarter with Losses Mon Sep 30, 5:25 PM ET By Denise Duclaux NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks wrapped up a brutal September with a sell-off on Monday, dragging the Standard & Poor's 500 and the blue-chip Dow to their worst quarter since the crash of 1987, as familiar worries over the U.S. economy and corporate profits drained investor confidence. "People are tremendously disillusioned with the current news, and they don't see any real catalyst for upside going forward," said Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at RBC Dain Rauscher. "It's a very difficult time." The Wilshire 5000 total market index <.TMW> has tumbled 17 percent in the quarter, erasing about $1.9 trillion in market value, according to Wilshire Associates. That represents about $7,000 for each U.S. citizen. The index is the broadest representation of the U.S. stock market. About $8 trillion in investor wealth has been lost since the market dropped off all-time highs reached in early 2000, according to Wilshire, the investment research and advisory company which calculates the broad market gauge. "The mood is pretty bad out there," said Thomas Garcia, who helps manage $2.5 billion in equities at Thornburg Investment Management Co. "People are expecting the worst, and there's some uncertainty out there ... on what earnings are going to be in October." Speculation mounted that the Federal Reserve ( news - web sites) would cut interest rates yet again to prop up the anemic economy, as fresh data showed manufacturing in the Midwest shrank for the first time in eight months in September. This was the latest in a string of reports raising worries the frail economy will crimp corporate profits. Intel Corp. , the world's No. 1 chipmaker, fell almost 5 percent on worries over the timing of a turnaround in the beleaguered computer industry. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the world's No. 1 retailer, sank almost 4 percent after cutting its sales forecast for September. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> lost 109.52 points, or 1.42 percent, to 7,591.93, according to the latest available data, hitting its lowest close since August 1998. The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite index <.IXIC> fell 27.09 points, or 2.26 percent, to 1,172.07, falling to its lowest close since September 1996. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 12.09 points, or 1.46 percent, to 815.28. Losers beat advancers by a ratio of 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange ( news - web sites) and on Nasdaq. More than 1.74 billion shares changed hands on the Big Board and more than 1.67 billion shares on Nasdaq in moderate trading. In September, the Dow sank more than 12 percent, the Nasdaq fell almost 11 percent and the S&P 500 surrendered 11 percent, The S&P 500 suffered its biggest one-month decline since tumbling 14.6 percent in August 1998. For the quarter, the Dow fell 17.9 percent, the Nasdaq tumbled 20 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 17.6 percent. The Dow and the S&P 500 racked up their biggest quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 1987 when the stock market suffered its last major crash. "The real problem is sentiment ... with every earnings cut and every soft economic number, that gives us pause," said Brian Pears, head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management. "I happen to think we are probably fine, but people are starting to price in a worst-case scenario. People are getting nervous." An already sluggish climate took a turn for the worse when major retailers scaled back sales forecasts as increasingly hesitant consumers fretting about job losses and a disastrous stock market stayed away from stores. Wal-Mart fell $2 to $49.24. The Dow member ratcheted back its September sales forecast, the third month in a row the world's biggest retailer has been hurt by the shaky economy and consumer insecurity. The S&P retail index <.RLX> slumped 4.17 percent. Intel dropped 73 cents to $13.89 and helped lead the Dow lower. The chipmaking giant's chief executive again said a turnaround in the computer industry will not come until corporate profits rebound. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index <.SOXX> lost 3.38 percent. Other technology heavyweights also slumped. Web gear giant Cisco Systems Inc. fell 75 cents to $10.48 and ranked as the most active on the Nasdaq. Software leader Microsoft Corp. dropped $1.51 to $43.74. Business software maker Oracle Corp. lost 54 cents to $7.86. Dow component McDonald's Corp. fell 71 cents to $17.66, or nearly 4 percent. Moody's Investors Service has cut its outlook for the fast-food giant's $9 billion of debt to "negative" from "stable," saying McDonald's earnings may fall as competition rises. Bone tissue transplant provider Osteotech Inc. plunged $4.31, or more than 45 percent, to $5.16. Osteotech said it was temporarily suspending production of some products after tissue produced by the company failed to prove sterile. As a result of the disruption to production, Osteotech said it was withdrawing its 2002 financial forecast.

To: KLP who wrote (48659)	10/1/2002 8:31:49 PM
From: Rascal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Sorry, I underreported the war cost.. see below WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that a U.S. war against Iraq would cost between $9 billion and $13 billion, according to an initial estimate sent to the House and Senate. The report says the estimate will swing widely depending on the size and composition of the force the U.S. may deploy to the Persian Gulf. The budget office looked at two options to come up with the figure. One was termed a "heavy ground option" and emphasized the use of ground troops. It would cost about $13 billion to send about 370,000 troops to the Gulf. That force would be equipped with 1,500 aircraft, 800 attack and transport helicopters, 800 tanks and 60 ships. A second so-called "heavy air option" emphasized the use of fighter and bomber aircraft. It would cost $9 billion to send 250,000 military personnel, according to the budget report. That force would be equipped with 2,500 aircraft, 500 attack and transport helicopters, 300 tanks and 60 ships. Once U.S. troops, equipment and warplanes were in position to do battle, it would cost about $6 billion to $9 billion a month to run the war. cnn.com CNN mentioned the the $1 trillion loss. Heard it . Do not have link but it would be easy enough to extrapolate if you want to research. It's down 7 Trillion in the last 2 years.