Vietnam comparisons becoming more apt

These are the sort of headlines that make Karl Rove and the Neocons sweat: Monthly costs of Iraq, Afghan wars approach that of Vietnam. The article itself is no less damning:

The monthly bill for the U.S. military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan now rivals Pentagon spending during the Vietnam War, Defense Department figures show.

The Pentagon is spending nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, a pace that would bring yearly costs to almost $60 billion. Those expenses do not include money being spent on rebuilding Iraq's electric grid, water supply and other infrastructure, costs which had no parallel in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the last sustained war the nation fought, the United States spent $111 billion during the eight years of the war, from 1964 to 1972. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than $494 billion, an average of $61.8 billion per year, or $5.15 billion per month.

So how much of this expense will be covered by Iraqi oil revenues?

Posted September 08, 2003 12:20 PM | Comments (162)