http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/...r-15-years

Don't forget to include the 24 million American lives that were lost during the period between 9/11/2001 - 5/1/2011.

(05-06-2011 10:29 AM)I45owl Wrote:  Don't forget to include the 24 million American lives that were lost during the period between 9/11/2001 - 5/1/2011.

That sounds a touch sarcastic, I45. Surely you don't doubt the veracity of the insights in the article!

And of course all of this is a subset of the costs of removing Sadaam Hussein's minions from Kuwait. You can add in another 19 million lives or so.

But, the author of the article simply got this wrong...

The cost of bin Laden: $3 trillion over 15 years - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/...r-15-years Wrote:Unlike any of those conflicts, the wars we are fighting today were kick-started by a single man. While it is hard to imagine World War II without Hitler, that conflict pitted nations against each other. (Anyway, much of the cost to the United States came from the war in the Pacific.) And it's absurd to pin the Civil War, World War I, or the Cold War on any single individual. Bin Laden's mystique (and his place on the FBI's most-wanted list) made him—and the wars he drew us into—unique.

If you're going to blame one man, blame Sadaam. If not him, then Muhammed.

If it was 3 trillion, and I highly doubt it, and they counted somewhat fixed costs, I would say it was well spent. Every Muslim should be willing to reimburse us that cost, that's if they live by the ideals put forth in their holy book.

(05-06-2011 10:29 AM)I45owl Wrote:  Don't forget to include the 24 million American lives that were lost during the period between 9/11/2001 - 5/1/2011.

Wait. What?

The state of New York (that's right, the whole state) has only 19 million.

(05-06-2011 10:34 AM)I45owl Wrote:  And of course all of this is a subset of the costs of removing Sadaam Hussein's minions from Kuwait. You can add in another 19 million lives or so.

But, the author of the article simply got this wrong...

The cost of bin Laden: $3 trillion over 15 years - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/...r-15-years Wrote:Unlike any of those conflicts, the wars we are fighting today were kick-started by a single man. While it is hard to imagine World War II without Hitler, that conflict pitted nations against each other. (Anyway, much of the cost to the United States came from the war in the Pacific.) And it's absurd to pin the Civil War, World War I, or the Cold War on any single individual. Bin Laden's mystique (and his place on the FBI's most-wanted list) made him—and the wars he drew us into—unique.

If you're going to blame one man, blame Sadaam. If not him, then Muhammed.

I45 it seems to me that you're insinuating that the journalists who authored this article are just out-right imbeciles and/or liars who have exaggerated the meaning of these numbers to make a sensationalized point.

Look, these correspondants have read literally dozens of pages from books in their careers. They are far more informed than their average reader, and they work tirelessly to create the sort of emotional stories that influence people who don't have time to do due diligence and keep up w/ Farmville.

That's pretty cheap. I was expecting 4 or 5 GaBillion.

(05-06-2011 11:36 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(05-06-2011 10:29 AM)I45owl Wrote:  Don't forget to include the 24 million American lives that were lost during the period between 9/11/2001 - 5/1/2011.

Wait. What?

The state of New York (that's right, the whole state) has only 19 million.

It's just an estimate ... give or take 2-3 orders of magnitude.

google tells me 2.5 million people die in the US each year ... how's that for a WAG??

(05-06-2011 11:50 AM)DrTorch Wrote:  Look, these correspondants have read literally dozens of pages from books in their careers. They are far more informed than their average reader, and they work tirelessly to create the sort of emotional stories that influence people who don't have time to do due diligence and keep up w/ Farmville.

How could you forget to mention their important J-school degrees? If you didn't learn it at Columbia, could it really be true?

3 trillion over 15 years?? We certainly employed more people and generated more commerce than the 1.5 trillion we've spent over the past 30 months on "stimulus" alone

Overall good assessment IMO. I'd submit the cost is more than 3 trillion. What about the debt created? Unless we get very lucky with some new tech boom, our grandchildren will be paying for this mess.