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The Intercept reports:
The total U.S. budgetary cost of war since 2001 is $4.79 trillion, according to a report [PDF] [...] from Brown University's Watson Institute. That's the highest estimate yet.
Neta Crawford of Boston University, the author of the report, included interest on borrowing, future veterans needs, and the cost of homeland security in her calculations.
The amount of $4.79 trillion, "so large as to be almost incomprehensible", she writes, adds up like this:
- The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and other overseas operations already cost $1.7 trillion between 2001 and August 2016 with $103 billion more requested for 2017
- Homeland Security terrorism prevention costs from 2001 to 2016 were $548 billion.
- The estimated DOD base budget was $733 billion and veterans spending was $213 billion.
- Interest incurred on borrowing for wars was $453 billion.
- Estimated future costs for veterans' medical needs until the year 2053 is $1 trillion.
- And the amounts the DOD, State Department, and Homeland Security have requested for 2017 ($103 billion).
Crawford carried out a similar study[PDF] in June 2014 that estimated the cost of war at $4.4 trillion.
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Total Cost of USA's Wars Since 2001 Approaches $5 Trillion
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If the thunder don't get you, then the lightning will.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @02:25PM
> Shit, that's almost a quarter as much as Obamacare costs.
As usual, the mighty blubberbutt has got his numbers backwards
Cost of wars since 2001: $4.79 trillion
Cost of obamacare for the next decade [time.com]: $1.34 trillion
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday October 25 2016, @03:10PM
It's a fair cop. Though I do dispute the "As usual" bit. No code monkey can usually get his numbers wrong and stay a code monkey for very long.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @03:32PM
Unless said code monkey works for Microsoft.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @03:58PM
> No code monkey can usually get his numbers wrong and stay a code monkey for very long.
That's absolutely true and exactly why you should stick to code.
When it comes to anything non-technical, if you say it, 99% of the time its a fantasy.
And maybe the reason you think otherwise is because you conflate your expertise in one area with expertise in another. Kind of like Linus Pauling going full-quack for vitamin C.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 25 2016, @07:35PM
This is an unfortunate tendency of coder-bros, from what I've seen. They're basically the triple-digit-IQ arm of the good ol' boys club. INT and WIS are not and have never been the same stat, and for some reason this particular clade decided to make WIS its dump stat. Oh, and CHA, but that's a given for nerd types...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @01:39AM
Pffft, my CHA is rockin. You simply mistake my thinking you're an unintelligent waste of oxygen for not being able to charm someone.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday October 26 2016, @03:00AM
Uh...actually, I didn't have you in mind with that comment. But, um, thanks for proving my point about a zillion times over.
You DO know, don't you, that one symptom of low CHA is being very susceptible to demagoguery? Based on your posts relating to...well, everything outside coding, which I'm sure you do well, it leads me to suspect you somehow rolled a natural 0 on that. Like, the dice basically went "nope, fuck this guy" and disappeared into the ether. Stick to what you do well, okay? You have a niche; enjoy it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:29AM
My bedpost notches tell an entirely different story.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday October 26 2016, @04:51PM
Another symptom of low CHA is a complete lack of understanding--or caring--that you've gone off the reservation. Also inappropriate remarks for your supposed level of age or maturity. But that's just "locker room talk," right, big man?
I think what I like most about you is that you prove my point, and expand on it, in ways I wouldn't ever have dreamed of. It's like shooting fish in a barrel, except the fish actually takes the pistol out of my hands and blows its own brains out. And then lays there with a smug look on its face. I know this is cruel, but I can't help enjoying it. You've got the same essential problem ol' Donny Drumpf does.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @09:47PM
No, that would be low WIS. RTFPHB.
And inappropriate remarks have done extremely well by me my entire life. Two keys to pulling them off properly: Be funny an don't give a shit if you butthurt the twats with no sense of humor. The latter? Yeah, that's you. You can tell by how utterly flat your attempts at humor fall.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday October 27 2016, @03:47AM
You're the gift that keeps on, givin', Uzzard :) Cthulhu bless you.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 27 2016, @10:22AM
Cthulu 2016
Why settle for the lesser evil?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.