http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/30/news/economy/isis-cost/index.html?iid=SF_E_Lead
The first wave of U.S. military attacks against ISIS has cost
nearly $1 billion, according to a military think tank. Costs could
rise to as much as $1.8 billion a month if the U.S. military presence grows to
25,000 ground troops, as some have suggested. U.S air strikes started in
Iraq last month and expanded to syria last week.
So far U.S. military efforts have mostly been limited to air
strikes. There are also 1,600 U.S. troops in Iraq serving in advise-and-assist
roles and staffing the joint operation centers. However, they aren't conducting
combat operations against ISIS. President Obama said he has no plans for
the U.S ground troops to engage in combat.
The Center said that even if operations don't escalate, it will
cost between $200 million and $320 million a month to maintain the current
level of airstrikes and support troops. That works out to as much as $4 billion
a year.
It's been said that recent wars have been more of Economic
warfare than anything else. Will we have to spend billions of
dollars every time we have a terrorist threat to our society? If so,
how long before we constantly get challenged and lose our economic strength
to other countries. On the other side, I hope and believe that the
U.S wouldn't spend so much money on a War unless it economically benefits
us as a nation somehow. Maybe it's an excuse to tape out another
oil filed that would bring the U.S millions of dollars per day LOL.
I think it was inevitable that the US would end up fighting ISIS and the Khorasan group after the threats they were sending out. It's unfortunate that these new airstrikes are costing the US so much money. However, if we are going to increase spending for anything, I think defense is one good reason to do it, as these attacks on the Islamic State and the Khorasan group were not unprovoked. Perhaps we need to think of other ways to decrease spending since we know that national defense spending is going to continue increasing while we are in Iraq and Syria.
ReplyDeleteIf we do commit to fight ISIS, I think it will be interesting to see if American taxes increase to compensate for the increase in government spending, especially because of our current financial state. Can we afford more to take on more debt as a nation?
ReplyDeleteGovernment spending on military will always be there every month because we are the strongest military force in the world as of now and 4 billion a year is a lot better than 1.8$ billion a month would be if we conducted more ground troops.
ReplyDeleteThe United States spends by far the most on military purchases. In fact, they spend more the next several top spending nations combined which is a scary thought. Although the United States tend to play world police, it would nice to see where money could be saved. $1.8 billion a month is not a small amount of money by any means. It is possible that taxes in the United States may rise as a result of the spending or the United States could sell more bonds. It is good that the situation in Isis is being contained, however, other countries could help financially support the United States for its efforts.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the United States attacking ISIS was inevitable. I understand the U.S. spends outrageous amounts of national defense money but this is going to continue especially as additional threats come from this Islamic State. If this phenomenon is going to continue, then there is no other option other than reducing expenditures elsewhere. As the article states, we could spend anywhere from $200 million to $1.8 billion a month depending on the actions of the U.S. in response to ISIS. This being said, we need to find additional ways to cut back on spending to benefit the economy in some degree.
ReplyDeleteIf government spending increases, I will be interested to see the effect on taxes. Not everyone is on board to spend money to stop this battle overseas, but my opinion is ISIS needs to be stopped, and as the strongest military force in the world, I believe it is our duty to stop them, no matter the cost.
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