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

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (185637)	4/25/2006 6:00:57 PM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes plan to present this week a paper estimating the cost of the Iraq War at between $1-2 trillion. This is far higher than earlier estimates of $100-200 billion. I think it was obvious from the start that the Administration was grossly underestimating the costs and members of Congress knew it. But you can't tell the people the truth and expect them to support you. The administration (and DoD) have learned good lessons about how to conduct unpopular wars. One of them is to get rid of draft and replace it with "reserve" enticement. My niece's husband was tossed out of the Army for medical disability and was in the reserves. He was re-evaluated and miraculously found to be in fine shape. Though not fine enough to serve in a combat unit. Their son will graduate from high school this year and will be in boot camp this summer. I expect he'll end up in either Iraq or Afghanistan. jttmab P.S. Regardless of the pedigree, I take analysis from economists with some reluctance. This group is the same group that can't tell you with accuracy what the next release of housing starts, unemployment numbers, etc. are going to be. A mutual fund disclosure says past performance is not a predictor of future performance. I think this is important to remember when reading the arguments against doing something about global warming where the writer questions the scientific expertise while accepting the economic analyis of some bozo that was surprised at the latest unemployment numbers.