American Military Express

The Joint Economic Committee has released an analysis of the economic price of Long War since 2003. It is difficult to extract usable data from it since it apparently tries to obscure the costs of the "good" war in Afghanistan and flips between actual and projected costs.

Don't hold your breath waiting for this methodology on cost to be adopted for any other government spending.

But I digress.

Overall, the idea is we are charging up a storm on the war. With up to $3.5 trillion over 15 years out to 2017:

One war in Iraq: $607 billion.

One war in Afghanistan: $197 billion.

Increase oil prices, caring for our wounded, paying our troops, lost investments, and maintaining our military equipment: $700 billion.

Interest on debt: $220 billion.

Killing psychopathic jihadi monsters before they can attack us at home again: Priceless.

American Military Express.

Don't leave home without it!

People, our GDP is nearly $14 trillion. Extend this out to whatever year you want for total national income to compare it to the price this JEC committee uses. Is even $3.5 trillion that much of a defense burden for an economy that will generate over $200 trillion in GDP over that time?

I dare say this is an affordable price. This all part of the anti-war side's Plan B.

Even if you accept the shaky foundations of this study, if we can't afford the price of defending ourselves, why do we have a government? Stick to Plan A. Win this war.

UPDATE: Cue the partisan hack. E. J. Dionne picks up the storyline:

It's time that we subject the Iraq war to the same cost-benefit analysis that we are called upon to impose on other government endeavors. We are supposed to repeal or revise domestic programs that don't work. Shouldn't a troubled war policy be treated the same way?

The only trouble--from his point of view--is that we are winning. The idea that President Bush could get credit for liberating 25 million Iraqis is too high a price to pay for a victory in Iraq.