Making numbers dance

Numbers Schmumbers

The NY Times Saturday compared the cost of America's wars, and concluded the combined Iraq/Afghanistan campaigns against fascist Islam are the second most expensive in history.  Daniel Halper (Weekly Standard) puts things in perspective. “ But the real story is in the chart, not the accompanying article. The actual cost of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is extraordinarily low, when seen as a percentage of GDP. Whereas World War II constituted 35.8 percent of GDP spending, and whereas World War I made up 13.6 percent of GDP spending, the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (or what the Times calls "Afghanistan/Iraq/post-9/11) made up only 1.2 percent of GDP in 2008. The chart helpfully compares this to other wars: It falls in between the Mexican War (1847) and the Spanish-American War (1899). Now, in these comparative terms, it seems that spending for these wars is not nearly high enough, considering the enormous consequences of defeat in either Iraq or Afghanistan. ”