We are losing the war in iraq, admits new US defence secretary , Robert Gates
Politics / Iraq War Dec 05, 2006 - 07:50 PM GMTBy: John_York
Robert Gates, Ex Director of the CIA and George Bush's choice to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as US defence secretary, today admitted to the Senate that the US was not winning the war in Iraq and warned of the risk of conflagration in the Middle East because of the conflict.
When asked by Democratic Senator, Carl Levin of Michigan if the United States was winning in Iraq, Gates replied: "No, sir." Mr Gates also told senators, "Our course over the next year or two will determine whether the American and Iraqi people and the next president of the US will face a slowly and steadily improving situation in Iraq and in the region, or will face the very real risk of a regional conflagration."
This is in notable contrast to recent statements by George Bush, that the US was winning the war in Iraq.
With regards possibly military conflict with iram he said "We have seen in Iraq that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable, and I think the consequences of military conflict with Iran could be quite dramatic."
To date the Iraq war has cost an estimated $500 billion, with the monthly bill running at some $8 billions a month, and if US forces remain in iraq is destined to pass $1 trillion by 2010. Though the true cost of the war could be more than double this, when taking into account of long-term medical care of injured solider's and economic costs due to high oil prices.
This is further putting a major drain on the US economy as it continues to slow going into 2007. Annual, $110+ billion iraq war costs comprises nearly a quarter of the US budget deficit, and anticipated further weakening in the dollar. The original cost estimate for the war was $50 billion, the cost to date is ten times that with no end in sight. Increasingly the Iraq war is seen as the biggest mistake since the Vietnam war, with a recent poll showing 56 percent of Americans now say it was a mistake for the United States to have become involved in the Iraq war.
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