Pubic opinion

  1. Afghanistan Weekly Reader: Billions of Taxpayer Dollars at Stake in Afghanistan

    Published: March 12th, 2012

    Last December, Defense Secretary Panetta said the Afghanistan war was at a turning point and theAmerican people agree.
    It’s no wonder that the public is war-weary. Ten years of war and over $500 billion dollars, and we have little to show for it. And yet the costs of war continue. Pentagon officials say that the cost of deploying one solider to Afghanistan for one year is $850,000 and rising. Looking ahead, budget gimmicks and the lack of restraint in government spending may keep the war budget high for years to come.

    From ASG
    3/6/12
    DOD Comptroller: Fielding One Soldier In Afghanistan Costs Taxpayers $850,000
    Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski
    Recent violence in Afghanistan has led to the deaths of six U.S. troops. Despite this clear sign that the U.S. strategy isn’t working, politicians and pundits are insisting that the war is still “winnable.” Their solution is to leave twenty or thirty thousand troops behind—but how much will it cost?

    ARTICLES
    3/7/12
    US commanders: No plan to cede Afghan war to CIA
    Associated Press
    U.S. military commanders said Wednesday there are no plans to turn the Afghan war over to CIA control after 2014, with special operations answering to American intelligence officials.

    OPINION
    2/29/12
    Leave Afghanistan now
    Washington Examiner by Cal Thomas
    Can Afghanistan be stabilized so as not to pose a threat to America and American interests? Probably not, if the surge forces pull out on schedule and America continues to fight under restrictive and self-imposed rules of war while the enemy does not…If our troops are coming out anyway and if the administration can’t define victory, or commit the resources necessary to achieve it, waiting longer only ensures more casualties.

    3/6/12
    How to Pay for Wars
    The National Interest by Benjamin Friedman and Charles Knight
    Done right, spending caps would improve national decision making about war. Because American wars have broadly distributed and often obscured costs, the public and Congress have little incentive to carefully consider their consequences. Leaving aside the volunteer military, the only cost of war for most Americans is marginally higher taxes. And deficits subsidize war costs, diluting their effects on current voters.


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