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Surely you're old enough to remember March of 2003? Shock and awe? The invasion of Afghanistan occurred in 2001.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
Complete the thought: how much debt did the Iraq and Afghanistan wars add compared to other policy actions? Debt:GDP went from 55% in 2001 to 63% in 2007; by 2012 it was 100% [1]. (2016 [105%] to 2020 [126%], in case you think it’s partisan.) We blow the bill in peacetime. Despite a massive military budget. [1] https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/natio...
- snailmailstare 2y ago
  > Notable recent events triggering large spikes in the debt include the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the 2008 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the major costs according to your source. Some things would have a reasonable chance to raise or maintain the US' book value, and some were delusional expenditures unless war pigs make good piggy banks.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > the U.S.’ book value This is a nonsense metric for international finance. > some were delusional expenditures Moving the goalposts [1]: Nobody suggested the wars weren’t delusional; you claimed they’re the cause of America’s debt. That is wrong. We could have gone on over half a dozen Afghanistan & Iraq wars for the 2008 Great Recession and Trump tax cuts alone. The cause of our deficits is not “directly invading countries.” [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts
    - snailmailstare 2y ago
      > Moving the goalposts Grew rapidly must equal responsible for every penny because we are moving goal posts around.. The US brought its budget under control when Bill Clinton dodged meaningless conflicts and it spends most of its money on costs like the VA being raised for decades into peace time. Naturally it can spend into a deficit in peace, the Republicans make a game of intentionally flushing money down the toilet with war to try to avoid social spending, but social spending can be an investment while an investment in Afghanistan would have been a war crime. Further book value is not nonsensical for international finance, it is hard to measure for a country but building civil infrastructure via loans is obviously raising a value that will pay dividends, if you do it in your own country..

Complete the thought: how much debt did the Iraq and Afghanistan wars add compared to other policy actions? Debt:GDP went from 55% in 2001 to 63% in 2007; by 2012 it was 100% [1]. (2016 [105%] to 2020 [126%], in case you think it’s partisan.) We blow the bill in peacetime. Despite a massive military budget. [1] https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/natio...

snailmailstare 2y ago
> Notable recent events triggering large spikes in the debt include the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the 2008 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the major costs according to your source. Some things would have a reasonable chance to raise or maintain the US' book value, and some were delusional expenditures unless war pigs make good piggy banks.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > the U.S.’ book value This is a nonsense metric for international finance. > some were delusional expenditures Moving the goalposts [1]: Nobody suggested the wars weren’t delusional; you claimed they’re the cause of America’s debt. That is wrong. We could have gone on over half a dozen Afghanistan & Iraq wars for the 2008 Great Recession and Trump tax cuts alone. The cause of our deficits is not “directly invading countries.” [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts
  - snailmailstare 2y ago
    > Moving the goalposts Grew rapidly must equal responsible for every penny because we are moving goal posts around.. The US brought its budget under control when Bill Clinton dodged meaningless conflicts and it spends most of its money on costs like the VA being raised for decades into peace time. Naturally it can spend into a deficit in peace, the Republicans make a game of intentionally flushing money down the toilet with war to try to avoid social spending, but social spending can be an investment while an investment in Afghanistan would have been a war crime. Further book value is not nonsensical for international finance, it is hard to measure for a country but building civil infrastructure via loans is obviously raising a value that will pay dividends, if you do it in your own country..