What's the going price for launching an invasion from a foriegn country? $20 billion, apparently.

February 17, 2003 6:03 PM

What's the going price for launching an invasion from a foriegn country? $20 billion, apparently. That is what the US are offering Turkey in exchange for their support with Iraq. That, incidentally, is about 33% more than the entire US budget for NASA, or over a third of what the Federal government is spending this year on education. Incidentally, $20 billion would be more than enough to make up for all the deficits in every state's education budget, thanks to the debt-ridden Bush economy. This, of course, doesn't include the billions of dollars that the US will be paying just about every other neighbor of Iraq.
posted by insomnia_lj (9 comments total)

Why don't we just give Saddam 10 billion to go away and be done with it?
posted by 2sheets at 6:12 PM on February 17, 2003

I'm glad it's not my money.
Oh, wait...
posted by spazzm at 6:17 PM on February 17, 2003

In the interest of fairness, someone ought to ask what the cost in dollars would be if a major Western city was destroyed with a weapon provided by Saddam.

Nah. That would be boat-rocking.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:18 PM on February 17, 2003

Speaking of that... maybe someone should be asking why the US would attack a country that hasn't ever launched an attack on US turf, and only responds with force when threatened? ;-)

I think the boat just flipped over.
posted by shepd at 6:22 PM on February 17, 2003

crash: inasmuch as North Korea is threatening to pull out of the armistice and has a nuclear weapon likely capable of reaching the west coast of the US, shouldn't we be more worried about them?
posted by shagoth at 6:23 PM on February 17, 2003

Hey, I didn't say I was asking, I said someone ought to. You won't catch me going against the party line here.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:25 PM on February 17, 2003

"On top of U.S. grants, Turkey would be able to raise more than $20 billion with the loan guarantees. The package would cost U.S. taxpayers far less -- closer to $5 billion depending on the structure of the loans." - Reuters.

And the Federal government isn't supposed to be paying for education anyway - I think they represent like 3% of the US education budget.

What about the 37 billion we spent in Afghanistan? "How much does it take to buy peace in a country? Why, it's 37 billion more than the government spends on municipal transit! 37 billion more that the government spends on city council meetings! Those Republicans and they're mixed-up priorities!"
posted by Kevs at 6:25 PM on February 17, 2003

Bush = Evil. What a stunning, nay, earth-shattering viewpoint on MeFi. Shocking, I say, shocking!
posted by MidasMulligan at 6:26 PM on February 17, 2003

Iraqfilter
posted by Beholder at 6:29 PM on February 17, 2003