Letters to the Editor
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@bird94
"The constant repitition of "here's how the Iraq war was a bad thing now that we have the advantage of hindsight, and by the way, Bush sucks" articles makes me wonder, why does no one ever bring up the cost, in dollars or lives, of World War II?"
Comparing the Iraq war and WWII is like comparing apples and oranges.
I think, if I remember correctly, WWII was great for the economy. One could even make the argument that it wasn't FDR's social programs that finally got the United States out of its depression, but the massive mobilization of American industry. It's the reason why conventional wisdom has said that wars are good for the economy. Out of the horror of that time period, America emerged a stronger country because of WWII. Unfortunately, the Iraq war may very well prove the exception to the rule. There's been no massive mobilization of american industry. How many new jobs has the war created? And how many Americans are willing to risk life and limb to travel to Iraq to work at those new jobs? I almost wish that we were real imperial overlords and just took over the country so we the American people could get something out of it. At least we should be getting cheaper oil. Security is all well and good, but we're Americans; we need cash, too.
I know that history will tell whether or not it was a good idea to invade Iraq, but at this point, with us plunking down 3 trillion mostly borrowed dollars, an imploding housing market, rising oil prices (which of course benefit big business so may have been the point all along) the outlook doesn't look too good.