BBC: Afghanistan: Has the war cost America $500bn?
The US military has spent billions of dollars since 2001 fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
But the end may finally be in sight for America's military presence in the country if the current talks taking place in Doha between the United States and the Taliban reach a successful conclusion.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said the war has "cost the United States government and society $500bn".
How accurate is this figure and how might it have been reached?
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This was not a war of choice. So maybe the question should be .... should the U.S. have put a limit on their engagement in Afghanistan after the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies were driven out. In hindsight .... they should have left right after that happened instead of being engaged in nation building. That decision alone would not have cost the hundreds in billions that were eventually spent.
3 comments:
"They should have left right after that happened instead of being engaged in nation building. That decision alone would not have cost the hundreds in billions that were eventually spent."
Powell: "What I was saying is, if you get yourself involved—if you break a government, if you cause it to come down, by invading or other means, remember that you are now the government. You have a responsibility to take care of the people of that country."
The Taliban was the government. We kicked their skanky asses all the way to their paymasters in Pakistan.
SO if we had broke Afghanistan and immediately left, Powell would have been all over GWB.
But remember Powell will throw rotten fruit from the stands, but he will not lead.
It's too bad that operation to kill bin Laden when he was going through that mountain pass into Pakistan was run by a less than impressive US general at the time. We could have wrapped it up and gone home. Of course the talibs would have overthrown what passed for a government in Afghanistan at the time but I don't think they were internationally oriented as was al queda and no threat.
We needed a U.S. Grant and instead got a McClellan{sp}. [kinda butchered that name, I think]]
To really understand the value; you need to break down the costs. A large chunk of his money stayed right in the US for payroll, materials (bombs) and expenses. The next large expense would be for the training and outfitting of the Afghan forces : but again with US stuff. Some went to transport companies around the globe.
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