The Three Trillion Dollar War
The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict
Allen Lane
Hardback : 28 Feb 2008
£20.00
Synopsis
The $3 Trillion War will be a devastating reckoning of the true cost of the Iraq war - quite apart from its tragic human toll - which the Bush administration has estimated at $50 billion, but which Stiglitz and Bilmes will show underestimates the real figure by approximately sixty times. The authors expose the gigantic expenses which have so far not been officially accounted for, including not only big ticket items like replacing military equipment (being used up at six times the peacetime rate) but also the cost of caring for thousands of wounded veterans - for the rest of their lives.
Shifting to a global perspective, the authors investigate the cost in lives and damage within Iraq and the Middle East generally. With chilling precision, they calculate what the money spent on the war would have produced had it been further invested in the growth of the economy, in the US and around the world, and in infrastructure building. Stiglitz and Bilmes write in simple language, which makes the details they present, and the sums they add up, all the more disturbing. This book will change forever the way we think about the Iraq war - and about the cost of war generally.
Interview
Joseph Stiglitz talks about the $3 Trillion War
The $3Trillion War looks at the real cost of the Iraq war in the US. Was there any one thing that made you want to write it, or has the idea been growing for a long time?
Two years ago, as the War seemed to be dragging on, I was curious about its overall impact on the economy. At the same time, I knew that standard government accounting practices often give a deceptive view of costs. Linda Bilmes had already begun her research into the long term costs of caring for the injured and disabled veterans. It made sense for us to team up. As our work proceeded, so did the war, with costs that continued to spiral.
There had clearly been deception in going to war. As our research proceeded, we uncovered a continuing pattern. The total number of those injured was kept from the American people. Costs were hidden. But even more disturbing was the lack of provision for our soldiers, while they were fighting, and for our veterans, after they returned.
Is there a human cost as well as a financial one?
The human toll has been enormous - with the greatest costs being borne by those in Iraq and by the soldiers and their families. The ratio of injured to those killed has been unprecedented, and the number returning with serious mental problems is alarming.
Do you point the finger at any particular individuals for making mistakes, or do you feel that the problem lies more deeply in government procedures and institutions?
Many of the key mistakes made especially in the early days of the war have been discussed extensively elsewhere. Our focus is on government procedures, institutions, and policies. For instance, we explain the myriad ways in which privatization of the military - reliance on contractors - both increased costs and impaired the effectiveness of the mission. Cash accounting (focusing on expenses, as they occur), as opposed to accrual (which focuses as well on future obligations) encourages short sighted policies, scrimping on buying armor and vehicles which would have reduced casualties, whose long term costs, both for the individuals and society, are enormous, but did not show up on the Defence Department’s ledger.
One of the problems, however, is that the Bush Administration tried to circumvent many of the existing procedures and institutions. For instance, it relied far more heavily on single source contracting that was necessary, and this almost surely helped to drive up the costs.
During the process of writing and researching, were you surprised or shocked by anything you discovered?
As we wrote the book, we constantly made shocking discoveries. We mentioned one earlier - the systematic attempt to hide the total number of casualties, but only reporting the number injured “in combat” - and they decided whether a particular casualty was or was not a combat injury. (Fifty percent of the injuries they classified as non-combatant.)
Another: the government not only pays the insurance premium for the contractors (through the Department of Labor), but for those injured in combat, they also pay for health care and disability. We knew that the Bush Administration had provided inadequate funds for the Veterans Hospitals. But the magnitude of the shortfall took by surprise - as did the consequences, the difficulties returning soldiers had in getting care.
As a fourth example, the Defense Department knew from the first year of the war that there were vehicles which could protect our troops against the explosive devices which killed and injured so many, but they did not get around to ordering the equipment until this year, the fourth year of the war.
Are the issues in the UK the same?
Most of the issues are similar - with the major difference that those in the U.K. military have, at least at times, been more outspoken in pointing out the problems.
The economic costs have also been slightly less, because the U.K. is less dependent on oil imports than the U.S. One of the major macro-economic costs of the war relate to the soaring oil prices brought on by the War.
What kind of experience do you want the reader to have?
It is important for citizens in the U.S. and U.K. to understand better the costs of this war. For America, war has become too easy: we have tried to fight the war without inconveniencing anyone, other than those in the Reserves, the National Guard, and the military. Taxes were actually lowered after we went to war. There was no draft. As the supply of volunteers shrank, we lowered standards (even accepting felons) and increased sign-up bonuses, and refused to let our soldiers leave even when their enlistment period came to an end. There is no way of conveying the horror of war, but this book at least gives a glimpse of the costs, both to our economy and, most importantly, to those who have been asked to fight it. It is not a pretty picture. The reader should be upset, and angry.
But we believe something can be done - to make it less likely that these problems arise in the future. That is why we devote one chapter to how we can get out of the mess, and once chapter to reforms that will improve the process of decision making, as we go to war, and which will ensure, that if we do go to war, we treat our soldiers and veterans in the way that we should.
Product details
Format : Hardback
ISBN: 9781846141287
Pages : 336
Published : 28 Feb 2008
Publisher : Allen Lane
The Three Trillion Dollar War
The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict
£20.00
Related email updates
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication or when the author releases another book.
Please alert me via email when:
