The Economic Cost of War

President Obama announced Friday the troops will soon be coming home from war. His speech announcing the possible removal of troops from Iraq was seen from an economic standpoint. The war has cost $860 billion so far. President Obama has repeatedly criticized spending overseas. The war has made many people question if it has really made our country safer, not only from terror attacks but for the economy, as well. History suggests that with the possibility of an end to the war spirits may lift and help boost consumers, which in turn helps the economy. There are problems, though, with ending the war in the way of thinking of prosperity. The cost of the war is sensitive to the amount of troops serving in Iraq and President Obama has said he will stay aware of the changing conditions in Iraq as he carries out his plan. Analysts say even if the war were to end now the savings that would occur would be so small they would not make a dent in the debt we are in and it would come too late to help the economic crisis. The President's defense budget calls for $144 billion in 2009, $130 billion in 2010 and $50 billion for 2011 and beyond. His budget is not getting high scores across the political spectrum in pertaining to the true cost of the war. Bob Work, vice president at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says the budget is wrong but it is very upfront. Winslow Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information says that although President Obama pledge our troops will be home by 2010 the U.S. will still be carrying out missions in Afghanistan so the dropoff in cost will be unsurprising the first two years. Studies have shown by Congress how much the cost depends on the timing for withdrawal. The Congressional research services estimated in 2006 it is costing $390,000 a year to keep each American soldier overseas. In other words, delaying sending our troops home only sends our deficit further in the hole. I think although our country seems to be heading for a depression the safety of our country should be our first priority. We had to go to war to show that our country will not stand for terrorists to attack on our soil but I also believe there does have to be a stopping point. It aggravates me because we have been overseas for so long trying to help a country that seems they could care less if we're blown off the map only to put ourselves in a major economic crisis. Something has to give.