February 28, 2008
A Staggering Pricetag
As you may remember economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes published an article in 2006 about the true cost of the War in Iraq. Their new book "The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Confilct" which expands on the subject is about to be released. If you do nothing else today, if you never open the cover of this book, take a big gulp of informed citizenhood and read Aida Edemariam's interview with Joseph Stiglitz in the Guardian. A small sample:
I ask what discoveries Stiglitz found the most disturbing. He laughs, somewhat mirthlessly. "There were actually so many things - some of it we suspected, but there were a few things I couldn't believe." The fact that a contractor working as a security guard gets about $400,000 a year, for example, as opposed to a soldier, who might get about $40,000. That there is a discrepancy we might have guessed - but not its sheer scale, or the fact that, because it is so hard to get insurance for working in Iraq, the government pays the premiums; or the fact that, if these contractors are injured or killed, the government pays both death and injury benefits on top. Understandably, this has forced a rise in sign-up bonuses (as has the fact that the army is so desperate for recruits that it is signing up convicted felons). "So we create a competition for ourselves. Nobody in their right mind would have done that. The Bush administration did that ... that I couldn't believe. And that's not included in the cost the government talks about."
If nothing else your denial will be punctured..
Photo note: Stags + pricetag -- just a lucky shot
Posted by Dakota at February 28, 2008 12:06 PM