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The Costs of War

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09.11.2011 at 12:42pm

The Costs of War by Hugh Gusterson at The Bulletin.  BLUF:

"Military responses to problems have a way of creating all sorts of new problems. The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy offers an opportunity to reflect on the costs and benefits of the wars the United States initiated against Iraq and Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks. A comprehensive new study, "Costs of War," sponsored by Brown University (and with which I have been affiliated) suggests that the costs have been wildly out of proportion to  the benefits. The study should be required reading for political commentators and national security policymakers across the country. Presidential speechwriters' inspiring words about the courage of American soldiers and the success of the "surge" notwithstanding, it is hard to find any metric by which one can judge the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as successes. In money and in human suffering, the expense of the wars  has been appalling — as the Costs of War website makes clear, with a mixture of snappy graphics and carefully sourced research."

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