The Iraq war is five years old today. We were going to buy it a pony but try gift wrapping a pony and you’ll see why we didn’t buy the war a pony. We got the war a gift certificate instead. It can choose its own pony.
None of the editors of Imaginary Grapefruit were invited to the birthday party, probably because we didn’t send the pony. We doubt that Lawrence Lindsey was invited either, and we doubt that he bought the war a pony for its birthday.
In 2002, Lawrence Lindsey, then the President’s chief economic advisor, estimated that the cost of the war could be in the range of $100 to $200 billion and was shoved out the door in less time than it took Smarty Jones to win the 2004 Preakness Stakes.
And rightly so, he was way off. According to recent estimates, the United States has ponied up about $500 billion so far. Lindsey deserved to be sent back to his stall.
Of course, we could point out that Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget, predicted that the cost of the war would be in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion. But—we’re quoting the New York Times—“Mr. Daniels cautioned…that it was impossible to know what any military campaign against Iraq would ultimately cost.”
In other words, “I’m wearing a blindfold and swinging a broomstick at a piñata. If I hit it, it’s sheer luck.”
Or, as Yogi Berra supposedly said, "it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Mr. Berra, send your resume to the Office of Management and Budget.
The President of the United States, speaking this morning at the Pentagon, said that “war critics can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much…"
And he’s right! Ignore the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found, ignore the thousands of deaths and grievous bodily injuries among military personnel and civilians, ignore the fact that the expense is already ten times the amount initially estimated by director of the Office of Management and Budget and is still growing, and you have to conclude that it has been a brilliant success, and well worth the cost.
Mission accomplished!
Happy birthday, war, and we’re sorry about the pony. It is really hard to gift wrap a pony, but we tried.
