What Peace Dividend?

AFGHAN FLARES - An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, launches heat decoys during a close-air-support mission over Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon

Will Obama's War Strategy Produce A Peace Dividend? -- Christian Science Monitor

A move out of Iraq could save America $370 billion.

When The father of President George W. Bush was in the White House, the end of the cold war in the early 1990s gave him a "peace dividend" – a drop in military spending that opened the door to fund more constructive federal programs.

President-elect Obama probably hopes for the same advantage should he manage to wind down the war in Iraq as promised during the election.

The savings are potentially substantial. A back-of-the-envelope estimate earlier this month by Lawrence Korb and other experts at the Center for American Progress in Washington calculates a total savings of $370 billion through 2013 if operations in Iraq are shrunk dramatically.

But if more troops are sent to Afghanistan, as Mr. Obama has signaled is likely, the extra cost could reach $54 billion. So the net saving for those years would drop to $316 billion.

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My Comment: This is a silly article from The Christian Science Monitor. One .... U.S. troop with-drawl agreements have already been reached, President-elect Obama had minimum if any influence on this. Two .... he acknowledges himself that U.S. forces are going to be in Iraq for a very long time .... i.e. they are not leaving. Three .... the war for U.S. forces are already over. This is now a fight between Iraqi and Iraqi .... as it should. Four .... There is no peace dividend in a war .... just expenditures. A cessation in the war will only mean that the U.S. will not go even deeper into debt. Going "less deeper into debt" is not a "peace dividend".