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How much did the $2 trillions invested in the Irak War paid back ? I mean beside the obvious benefit of parasiting the invaded country and suck all you can out
by sametmax 8y ago
How much did the $2 trillions invested in the Irak War paid back ? I mean beside the obvious benefit of parasiting the invaded country and suck all you can out of it ?
Because $2 trillions (more than 60 millions of man year at minimum US wage) invested in schools, research and clean energy would certainly have yielded some interesting results.
It also has the small benefit of killing less civilians, not destroying the UN trust and avoiding a few PTSD.
- malloryerik 8y agoI agree with you generally, but I don't think you can say that the US was parasitic in Iraq. I've never heard from any credible source that the US looted the country and in fact Trump has often complained about that ("We should have taken the oil!"). That said, companies hired to develop infrastructure in Iraq, it seems, were highly parasitic toward US-supplied development and defense funds.
- malloryerik 8y agoBecause of a downvote, I'll supply a few links simply from Google's first few results for the search "kkr iraq wasted money". Btw I was thinking of companies such a KKR and Halliburton. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/much-of-60b-from-us-to-rebuild-iraq-wasted-special-auditors-final-report-to-congress-shows/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/much-of-60b-from-us-to-rebuild-... https://www.wired.com/2013/03/iraq-waste/ https://www.wired.com/2013/03/iraq-waste/ For the record, I was opposed to the war in Iraq, and am also in opposition to Trump. I wouldn't usually mention political leanings on HN, but it seems relevant here.
- sametmax 8y agoI don't understand the downvote. That's a polite and constructive comment. I don't mean the US looted the country, but the reconstruction brings a lot of gigs that the US are distributing to whomever they want.