[sidebar: Condi Rice said they were paranoid and therefore, not other than driven to be criminally insane, >> http://theartof12.blogspot.com/2014/02/condoleezza-rice-tells-her-story-how-to.html
... “Early in his administration,
President Barack Obama would say that in the days after the attacks in
new York and Washington, the Bush administration ‘made decisions based
on fear,’” Rice writes.
... “Well. Yes we did, but >>not from irrational fear
or paranoia<<.”
Instead, she said, much was dictated by fear of the unknown.
>> It
is only in retrospect – seen at least initially through the stories
written by those who were inside the room – that we know exactly how
much we had to fear then, and how little we know about what to fear
next. <<
>> http://theartof12.blogspot.com/2014/02/william-blake-kings-of-jerusalem.html
>> http://theartof12.blogspot.com/2014/02/william-blake-kings-of-jerusalem.html
tobecontinued...]
The decade-long American wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq would end up costing as much as $6 trillion, the equivalent of
$75,000 for every American household, calculates the prestigious Harvard
University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Remember, when President George Bush’s National Economic
Council Director, Lawrence Lindsey, had told the country’s largest
newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” that the war would cost between $100
billion and $200 billion, he had found himself under intense fire from
his colleagues in the administration who claimed that this was a gross
overestimation.
Consequently, Lawrence Lindsey was forced to resign. It
is also imperative to recall that the Bush administration had claimed at
the very outset that the Iraq war would finance itself out of Iraqi oil
revenues, but Washington DC had instead ended up borrowing some $2
trillion to finance the two wars, the bulk of it from foreign lenders.
According to the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of
Government 2013 report, this accounted for roughly 20 per cent of the
total amount added to the US national debt between 2001 and 2012.
According to the report, the US “has already paid $260
billion in interest on the war debt,” and future interest payments would
amount to trillions of dollars. This Harvard University report has also
been carried on its website by the Centre for Research on Globalisation, which is a widely-quoted Montreal-based independent research and media organisation.
In its report under review, the 377-year old Harvard
University has viewed that these afore-mentioned wars had not only left
the United States heavily indebted, but would also have a profound
impact on the federal government’s fiscal and budgetary crises over a
protracted period.
The report has attributed the largest share of the
trillions of dollars in continuing costs to care and compensation for
hundreds of thousands of troops left physically and psychologically
damaged by the two wars being discussed here.
The report states: “The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts,
taken together, will be the most expensive wars in US history—totaling
somewhere between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. This includes long-term
medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans
and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs. The
largest portion of that bill is yet to be paid.”
It asserts: “Another major share of the long-term costs
of the wars comes from paying off trillions of dollars in debt incurred
as the US government failed to include their cost in annual budgets and
simultaneously implemented sweeping tax cuts for the rich. In addition,
huge expenditures are being made to replace military equipment used in
the two wars. The report also cites improvements in military pay and
benefits made in 2004 to counter declining recruitment rates as
casualties rose in the Iraq war.”
The authors of this report have warned that the legacy
of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars would dominate
future federal budgets for decades to come.
According to the Harvard University report, some 1.56
million US troops—56 per cent of all Afghanistan and Iraq veterans—were
receiving medical treatment at Veterans Administration facilities and
would be granted benefits for the rest of their lives.
It reveals:
“One out of every two
veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan has already applied for permanent
disability benefits. The official figure of 50,000 American troops
“wounded in action” vastly underestimates the real human costs of the
two US wars. One-third of returning veterans are being diagnosed with
mental health issues—suffering from anxiety, depression, and/or
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
The report notes that in addition, over a quarter of a
million troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which, in
many cases, were combined with PTSD, posing greater problems in
treatment and recovery.
“Constituting a particularly grim facet of this mental
health crisis is the doubling of the suicide rate for US Army personnel,
with many who attempted suicide suffering serious injuries,” opine the
report authors.
It maintains:
“Overall, the Veterans
Administration’s budget has more than doubled over the past decade, from
$61.4 billion in 2001 to $140.3 billion in 2013. As a share of the
total US budget it has grown from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent over the
same period. Soaring medical costs for veterans is attributable to
several factors. Among them is that, thanks to advancements in medical
technology and rapid treatment, soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have
survived wounds that would have cost their lives in earlier conflicts.”
The Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
report has estimated: “While the US government has already spent $134
billion on medical care and disability benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans, this figure will climb by an additional $836 billion over the
coming decades.”
It notes that the largest expenditures on health care
for World War II veterans took place in the 1980s, roughly four decades
after the war, and that spending on medical care and disability payments
for Vietnam War veterans was still on the rise.
Here follows the description:
“The most common medical
problems suffered by troops returning from the two wars include:
diseases of the musculoskeletal system (principally joint and back
disorders); mental health disorders; central nervous system and
endocrine system disorders; as well as respiratory, digestive, skin and
hearing disorders. Overall, some 29 per cent of these troops have been
diagnosed with PTSD.”
The report goes on to argue:
“Among the most severely
wounded are 6,476 soldiers and Marines who have suffered “severe
penetrating brain injury,” and another 1,715 who have had one or more
limbs amputated. Over 30,000 veterans are listed as suffering 100
percent service-related disabilities, while another 145,000 are listed
as 70 to 90 percent disabled.”
It reads:
“The worst of these
casualties have taken place under the Obama administration as a result
of the so-called surge that the Democratic president ordered in
Afghanistan.”
It mentions that the Walter Reed Medical Centre, US
Army’s flagship hospital at Washington DC, was treating hundreds of
recent amputees and severe casualties, adding that this facility had
received 100 amputees for treatment during 2010; 170 amputees in 2011;
and 107 amputees in 2012.
The report has also stated that the US Marines have suffered an especially high toll.
The report points out:
“Massive direct spending on
the two imperialist interventions continues. With over 60,000 US troops
remain in Afghanistan, it is estimated that the cost of deploying one
American soldier for one year in this war amounts to $1 million. These
troops continue suffering casualties—including in so-called “green on
blue” attacks by Afghan security forces on their ostensible allies. As
they are brought home, they will further drive up the costs of medical
care and disability compensation. The US is maintaining a vast
diplomatic presence in Iraq, including at least 10,000 private
contractors providing support in security, IT, logistics, engineering
and other occupations; as well as logistics support and payments for
leased facilities in Kuwait.”
In its conclusion, the report not only seeks to dispel
illusions that ending full-scale wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would
produce any kind of “peace dividend” that could help ameliorate
conditions of poverty, unemployment and declining living standards for
working people in the US itself, but makes it clear that the legacy of
decisions made during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts would impose
significant long-term costs on the federal government for many years to
come.
Copyright The News Pakistan 2013
Who Benefited/Benefits? KINGS OF JERUSALEM?! As always, FOLLOW THE MONEY and we know the Criminally Insane via WARS that are Genocide due to Apartheid in our species. In a word, VilEvil
ReplyDeleteIn their minds were scary images and so they DECIDED to kill all that moves and ask questions ? No, those questions would have stopped their criminally insane acts and that wasn't to be history!
ReplyDeleteWorld Earth has decided and the decision isn't about the Apartheid and Genocide of our own species anymore. Barry and Condi don't get to retire like Egyptian wannabe KING & QUEEN, retiring on flesh trading is over in the time of the aughts www
ReplyDelete