Costs of the Iraq War

David Francis pens a great article in today's Christian Science Monitor regarding the costs of the war in Iraq. It is stacking up as the third most costly war in 2005 dollars, going back trough all the wars since World War 1.

The last two paragraphs I found particularly interesting:

"From one standpoint, the US economy should find it easier to absorb the present war. Today's defense budget is about 4 percent of gross domestic product, the nation's output of goods and services. That compares with 6.2 percent in the 1980s, 9.4 percent in 1960 (Vietnam), 14.2 percent in 1953 (Korea), and 38 percent in 1944 (World War II).

In that respect, today's war "is much cheaper," says Kosiak."