War Costs, Beneficiaries and Beasts of Burden

Before the war on Iraq started, not a single Bushite spinner would discuss the cost of the war. It was “not knowable” and “it was too soon to say with precision how much the war will cost.” Even the President refused to discuss the costs of the war. Yet five days into a war of which no-one could predict the duration and final outcome, the Bush spinners produced a precise figure -- $74.7 billion to cover the war’s first 30 days. If you think about it carefully, can we really believe this number was “not knowable” for weeks if not months before the war started? Will we ever know the real cost, especially if it drags out for years?

To better understand how war costs are spun to hide the real cost, real beneficiaries and real beasts of burden that are saddled with the costs, a close analysis of the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq to “Free Kuwait” is quite informative and enlightening.

The 1991 war, which lasted for six weeks, cost $40 billion. We were told that America paid only 25 percent of the cost, that is $10 billion, while the balance of $30 billion was paid by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Where did they get the money? The oil price before the war was approximately $15 per barrel. Once the war started it rose to $42 a barrel generating an EXTRA $60 billion. In the Arab oil-producing countries, the state keeps 50 percent of the revenues and the multinational oil companies keep the remaining 50 percent. It is known as the “fifty–fifty” law. This means Kuwait and Saudi Arabia got $30 billion and the oil companies also got $30 billion. The oil companies, Shell, Exxon, Mobil… are of course U.S.- owned. They managed to keep $9 billion and paid the U.S. government the remaining $21 billion in taxes.

The bottom line is, the U.S. government that spent $10 billion on the war made a profit of $11 billion. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia broke even, while the U.S. oil companies made a $9 billion profit! The cost to “Free Kuwait” was paid by We the Apathetic People who paid the extra cost per gallon every time we refilled our tanks. We believed the increased cost was because of the war to “Free Kuwait”. Was it, or was it to increase the profit of the oil companies? It gets better. Let’s not forget that the $40 billion spent went exclusively to pay for the equipment, ammunition, supplies and services to fight the war. The U.S. military-industrial complex.

The same analysis for the war in Afghanistan and millennium war in Iraq to “Free the Iraqi People” will come up with the same conclusions. Different numbers, but bottom line, the primary beneficiaries are the oil companies and the manufacturers of all the weaponry used. Who pays for it all? We the Apathetic People, our children and grandchildren! Truck drivers and all other working Bush supporters should stop and think about their blind loyal support of the Bush oiligarchy as their trucks come to a screeching halt because they can no longer afford the cost of gasoline. The oil companies are determined to pocket whatever change is left in anyone’s pocket and bank account. It’s time to collect what they missed in 1991 after the Gulf War.