news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4201812.stm
Printable version Iraq war 'costlier than Vietnam' US troops in Baghdad The US has fewer troops in Iraq than Vietnam, but pays them more The monthly cost to the US of the war in Iraq is now greater than the ave rage monthly cost of the Vietnam War, a report by two anti-war groups sa ys. The report put costs in Iraq at $500m (278m) a month more than in Vietna m, adjusted for inflation. This makes Iraq the most expensive US war in the past 60 years, they say. But an analyst from the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) said the cost was small in the context of the whole US economy. Although there are fewer troops in Iraq than Vietnam, they are paid more and weapons are more expensive, the report says. US soldiers in during Vietnam War Weapons have become more expensive since the Vietnam War "Broken down per person in the US, the cost so far is $277 per person, ma king the Iraq War the most expensive military effort in the past 60 year s," it concludes. Co-author Erik Leaver told the BBC costs in Iraq had spiralled since 2003 because the US had not been well-prepared. "We have deployed now roughly one million troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the numbers just keep going up and up," he said. "We are going to continue to see costs not only from the fighting now but also from the health care of these soldiers and veterans when they come home." "The more valued criticism is whether the Bush administration is winning the war and prosecuting it in a successful way," he said. I would say that $5bn a month is certainly someth ing I would be willing to pay." Mr Donnelly said the relative cost of operations in Iraq, at 2% of Americ a's annual GDP, was less than either the Vietnam conflict at 12% or Worl d War II at 40%. the American economy is exponent ially larger than it was in the Vietnam War years," Mr Donnelly said.
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