[GiraffeNecktie]

I do wish posters would stop adding their personal editorial comments to headlines. The linked headline does not have the words "...and will tax lower class to pay it off" and in fact, the article itself does not suggest or imply anything of the kind.

I've flagged it, not because it doesn't belong on Hacker News, but because it's been given a stupid spin by the poster.

[akadien]

What did we, our children, and so on get for that investment? And what were the opportunity costs of the money, time, and resources?

[weaksauce → akadien]

I am not a scholar of this sort of thing but here is my list:

Positives in the short term: job sustenance at war companies; rayethon, boeing, northrup, et. al. sympathetic(possibly) government in Iraq that will continue to supply oil at roughly current prices.

Negatives: 4 trillion dollars that could have been spent on sustainable energy research and implementation. Human lives gone both on our side and theirs. Ideological aggression from factions in the Middle East countries due to our aggressive actions. Our actions may spark neutral countries to back our enemies.

There are definitely more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Might be wrong on some of these and I would like to hear other people's opinions.

[nextparadigms]

Add to that the high potential for another even more expensive war with Iran, which all the Republican candidates seem to want, except Ron Paul. Even Obama is "leaving it on the table", which is probably code word for "I want it, too, but I'm waiting to be re-elected first.".

I just love how the media seems to think that it's perfectly normal to want another war - it's the "crazy" ones who don't want it.

[davidw]

This is an article about politics and as such it would probably best were it posted elsewhere.