According to broad estimates, the United States has reportedly spent over$1,024 billion since 2001 until the end of July 2010 and the figure is going up day by day. In other words, about $260,000 is blown away in each passing minute.
The recent release of over 91,000 Afghan war documents by Wikileaks has not only unveiled America’s plight but has also brought to the fore the fact that war is not going as well as Washington claims. The US and its Allies are losing the battle rather winning it.
There are reports about US and allied soldiers dying or being maimed every day. The innocent civilians become ultimate victims of the wrong doings of the belligerrents. As Kevin Rafferty has aptly observed: “Billions of dollars are being wasted and millions of lives being destroyed for no good reason apart from the overweening egos of politicians who are not prepared to admit that they are wrong.”
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan has left at least 910,000 people dead, or more than 303 times those killed in the 9/11 al-Qaida attacks on the U.S. The proposed US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan will leave fragile and corrupt regimes in place. President Karzai’s regime will not be able to survive and Kabul will fall to Taliban later or sooner.
Pakistan’s support to Afghan Taliban in terms of information money and arms has been unveiled by the Wikileaks’ documents. Besides, the Afghan security forces are no match to the Taliban. If after such a huge wastage of money, military and human resources, the power in Kabul is to fall back into the hands of the Taliban, the rationale of invading Afghanistan is beyond our understanding.
Wars are always inflationary. Money chases fewer goods, as labour and materials are diverted to military uses, boosting business costs and squeezing profits. The war-ravaged economies of Iraq and Afghanistan will require deaceds and tremendous precious resources to be back on tracks.
Kevin Rafferty in a recent article has aptly pointed out that a trillion dollars would pay for the Afghan budget for 303 years or give every Afghan, man, woman and child $35,000 each, or provide enough money for each Afghan to live at present low levels of income for 77 years — or only 44 years adjusted for purchasing power parity.
One is inclined to agree with Alan Reynolds’ succinct observation:”War is still hell, even if we call it liberation. And the unavoidable diversion of effort, attention and resources to any foreign war also implies greater risk of domestic troubles, including domestic terrorism.”
