Republican News · Thursday 27 March 2002

Profiting from War

Send builders, guns and money

BY ROBBIE SMYTH

$53.4 billion for waging war, $7.8 billion for humanitarian relief, $1.4 billion for coalition allies. This was the price tag calculated by George Bush for the first weeks of his war on Iraq.

Waging war today is expensive, especially in an arena when each air-launched Cruise missile costs $1 million. This, however, is only the beginning of the total costs of the war in Iraq. This war is a complex economic process that is at its heart also a very unequal one.

The average annual wages of an enlisted soldier in the US armed forces who actually has to wage Bush's war is $25,400. The 120,000 combat troops who will put themselves in the firing line will be benefiting considerably less from this war than the executives in the defence, building, oil and other companies who will earn literally billions from the war in Iraq.

The war is a complex process because it's not just a case of going to war. The process includes the logistics of amassing of an army with massive naval, air and ground presence on the borders of Iraq. Then there is the bombardment, invasion and reconstruction of Iraq, not just in physical terms but also in terms of political and economic institutions.

War is also an important part of the US economy and government spending. In the years since George Bush took office, the US defence budget, the largest in the world, has grown by 23%. Bush is seeking another $17 billion increase next year, taking the budget to almost $380 billion.

CATCHY NAMES

Winning a war is also not just expensive but is a complicated business. Not only do you have to spend years developing new technology for your weapons, there are also many hours needed for picking stylish names such as MOAB, that's a 9.5 tonne Massive Ordnance Air bust Bomb. New weapon names have to roll off the tongue with the same slickness as the old reliables like Apache and Tomahawk. (It is nice to know that Native American culture has a contribution to make to the war). However the hawk brand is a bit overused. The US also a Globalhawk spy drone and the Nighthawk Stealth fighter.

Then there are the combat clichés. In 1991, we got "Desert Storm", "carpet bombing" and "collateral damage". This time around we have the "coalition of the willing" and "shock and awe", but "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is a bit lame. Being a superpower means it is difficult to get everything right.

SMART TECHNOLOGY

For starters, there are all those billions invested in developing new battle technologies. The increase in technology is clearly visible in the new war in Iraq. Just 10% of ordnance dropped on Iraq in 1991 was so called 'smart bombs'. This time around, the figure is closer to 80%, so clearly the weapons industry in the USA and Britain has had a productive decade.

You also have to organise the logistics of arming, moving and feeding over 250,000 personnel, 1,100 aircraft, and six carrier battle groups, who could strike up to 3,500 points daily with missile attacks.

This, however, is only one aspect of the organising of the war in Iraq. There are much more important arenas to be included, such as ensuring the price of oil stays between $22 and $28 a barrel, that the stock markets maintain their new bull run and that the planning for distributing lucrative contracts rebuilding a post 'shocked and awed' Iraq continues interrupted.

COSTS OF THE COALITION

Then there is the important work of keeping the 'Coalition of the Willing' on board, and this means splashing around the dollars. The billions needed to buy allies for the war on Iraq are mounting and that's even before you count up the $6 billion for Turkish assistance.

There must be wistful thoughts in the Pentagon for the heady days of October 2001, when it only took $70 million in cash to pay off the Aghani tribal leaders. Bush's war cabinet was told at the time: "You can't buy an Afghan, but you can rent one." Already this week, George Bush has asked Congress for $1.4 billion for coalition allies.

COSTS OF RECONSTRUCTION

While US weapons manufacturers might be lining their bank accounts, so too will some US builders. The US based Council on Foreign Relations estimates the annual reconstruction costs in post war Iraq at $2.5 billion. It is no wonder then that a queue of US companies is forming to help rebuild the damage done by US and British forces.

British officials put the cost of reconstruction at up to $7.95 billion. In recent weeks it was revealed that the Bush administration had moved a step beyond estimates and was awarding contracts worth $900 million to five US and international construction companies.

One of the companies, Bechtel, has board members who served in the Reagan administrations, while US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld represented the company on a pipeline project it was tendering for in Iraq in 1983.

REPUBLICAN PROFITS

Bechtel is also apparently named, along with 24 other US companies, as having provided aid and expertise to Iraq. The details are in the 12,000-page report given by the Iraqi government on its biological, chemical and nuclear technology programmes to the UN arms inspectors. So it seems that they will profit in war and peace.

US Vice President Dick Cheney was once chief executive of a subsidiary of Halliburton, the oil and gas exploration, development and services company that is also on the $900 million contract shortlist. Over the last two years, 89% of Halliburton's political donations went to the US Republican Party.

So where does this long and winding road end? Well, enter the Adam Smith institute in Britain, which believes the overthrow of Saddam will lead to "long-term political and economic stability". There will, of course, be a "robust private sector" as part of this. It seems that some of the US companies won't be going home for a long long time. It is surely no coincidence that next to Saudi Arabia, Iraq has the world's second largest oil reserves.

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Air launched cruise missile $1 million

Tomahawk cruise missile $575,000

M1 Abrams tank $4.3 million

Apache Longbow Helicopter $14 million

M270 Rocket Launcher $2.3 million

B52 Stratofortress £30 million

F-15 Eagle $35 million

Nighthawk Stealth Fighter $45 million

Hawker Harrier $21.6 million

Challenger Tank $4 million