Three Years, Five Months
- Thread starter Cypress
- Start date
And how long did we occupy them and help them rebuild afterward?
1) Germany attacked us. Iraq didn't
2) We spent less money rebuiling germany, than we've spent on iraq.
3) There was no guerilla war in Germany after 1945.
Immanuel
Junior Member
I would like to know how that compares in today's dollars. I don't know how they would compare but it might be interesting to figure that out.
Immie
1. Yes, but the comparison is arbitrary. It is the long-term occupation that is so costly. Rebuilding Germany was also costly.
2. On that per-capita and adjusted for inflation basis, this is not reality.
3. Right, we actually waged war on the population of Germany, they were entirely defeated when it was over. In this case we PR'd ourselves into not fighting a war on the population, they are not defeated in spirit as the Germans were and therefore are willing to fight this type of battle....
Simply comparing them over time....
In lives, how many were lost in the same amount of time in Germany? That is what it costs to fight so "cheaply"!
wikkipedia says the Marshal plan cost $120 billion in today's dollars. And that is the total spend on ALL european countries, not just Germany.
In comparisan, Iraq is a relatively small country, with 23 million people. Not an entire continent (i.e., western europe) with hundreds of millions.
I understand the desire to compare and link Bush's Iraq War, to the successful glory days of Truman and the Marshall Plan.
That is only the cost of the US, not all of the money spent in rebuilding. But I guess you are using that as the basis of cost. I use lives as the basis of cost. Lives cost far more than money... This war has been less costly than Germany. And the Marshal plan was only the rebuilding, not the war. How much did we spend on that war?
My point, Cypress, is the attempt to equate these two wars on this basis when we were willing to fight all out in Germany but have been unwilling to do that in Iraq is disingenuous...
There are reasons enough to get out of iraq. There is no need to waste energy attempting to cost-basis this on a war that does not compare.
There are reasons enough to get out of iraq. There is no need to waste energy attempting to cost-basis this on a war that does not compare.
That war cost something like 2 trillion.
World War Two was a justified war. Iraq wasn't. I don't spend money on stuff thats not justied.
But, I understand the desire to try to link Bush's War, to Truman and World War Two. World War two and the Marshall Plan were arguably the most successful and glorified experiments in American foreign Policy. I'd want to try to be linked to them.
Yes, but you compare the rebuilding cost and say Iraq is more expensive... The cost of making the rebuilding effort so cheap was the amount we spent on the war. Imagine if we used that type of warfare in Iraq... What would it be like if we spent that kind of money on that war? Would anybody at all be alive there?
The whole "was it justified" argument is fine. I agree, not justified. I agreed long before we went. This arbitrary measure of how much it cost is simply that... arbitrary. It is a non-sequitor. The basis for comparison doesn't exist because of the different way the wars were fought. One was against a civilian population, the other was not. One had a defeated population on rebuild, the other doesn't...
These two things do not compare.
Immanuel
Junior Member
I'm not so sure on the accuracy of anything placed into Wikipedia. I have not researched it but I am cautious on all things coming from Wikipedia.
Immie
Immanuel
Junior Member
I didn't say they lied. However, when anyone in the world can post information in an encyclopedia you cannot expect it to be accurate. I mean I could post that Saddam Hussein was not involved in the murder of his own people. We all know that to be false but I could still post that lie and have it in Wikipedia for God knows how long.
Immie
Immie
TheDanold
Unimatrix
What a stupid comparison, the actual Iraq WAR was over in a month. The occupation is 3 years and a few months. The occupation of Germany by the US is still ongoing to this day.
Stupid dishonest lying cypriss gets taken to the cleaners, again and again and again.
Its easily verifiable within ten seconds on google. I simply picked wikkipedia, as one out of multiple sources. The other sources I saw on google were consistent with wikkipedia; i.e, the marshall plan cost in the range of 100-120 billion dollars inflation adusted, was spead among 13 european countries, and extended through 1951.