Afghan war costs balloon, emerge as election issue

[Oscar]

Afghan war costs balloon, emerge as election issue

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/Canada ... e&subtitle
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OTTAWA - The Afghanistan war threatened to emerge as a major election issue after release of a report showing the cost to Canadians has exploded well above previous estimates.

09/10/2008 1:45:00 PM Julian Beltrame, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said Thursday the war will cost taxpayers between $14 billion and $18 billion by the time troops are withdrawn in 2011, about twice the government's estimate.

That's up to $1,500 for every Canadian household.

The first detailed costing of the war comes on a day Stephen Harper's stalled campaign got some good news on the economic and polling front.

The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima four-day rolling poll suggested Harper had arrested his recent slide in national support, putting the Conservatives at 32 per cent support, followed by the Liberals at 27 per cent and the NDP at 19.

The new numbers give the Tories a one-point increase from the previous day, although all the changes are well within the margin of error.

As well, the World Economic Forum gave Canada's banking system a gold star in the face of the crumbling global financial system, rating them the soundest in the world, followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia.

Campaigning in British Columbia, the prime minister boasted that the economic forum report confirmed his assessment that Canada is better sheltered than many other countries from the strengthening financial storm.

"There is no question, no possibility of bailing out the banks," as other countries have done, Harper said. "The banks aren't seeking to be bailed out and the government won't be bailing them out."

He repeated earlier comments from his finance minister, however, that credit conditions have tightened in Canada making it more difficult for Canadians and businesses to obtain loans.

The new and higher accounting for the war, however, added an element to a campaign that has tightened dramatically over the last week.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion accused the government of failing the test on transparency over the true costs of the war, or how it will impact the government's accounts. NDP Leader Jack Layton said the report shows the Conservative government can be trusted.

Harper brushed aside suggestions his government hid costs.

"The debate is not that the numbers are wrong. It's a debate about what to include and not include," he said.

"Look, we've been clear that the cost is high. We are doing important work there as part of the international effort, (and) we're certainly not alone spending money."

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[Oscar]

Stephen Harper hid the cost of the war

October 10, 2008

http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=557

Tell us your opinion on Ceasefire.ca

Dear Ceasefire.ca supporter,

As you may have seen from reports in yesterday and today’s morning newspapers, the cost of the war in Afghanistan will reach $18 billion by the end of 2011, according to a new report released by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The report, by Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, does not even include the salaries of the 2500 soldiers in Afghanistan, and is still much higher than the $8 billion estimated cost provided by the Conservative government, which included salaries.

I attended the press conference yesterday in Ottawa, and during the announcement of the investigation, Page noted that this study is incomplete because he did not receive full co-operation from government departments, including the military. Even worse, those departments may not realize how much they are spending on the war because of sloppy accounting.

This the first public costing of the war completed by a government office or department. The study was produced at the request of NDP MP for Ottawa Centre Paul Dewar.

Earlier this week, David Macdonald and I released our own costing of the war in Afghanistan called The Cost of the War and the End of Peacekeeping: The Impact of Extending the Afghanistan Mission.

Based on our calculations, the cost of the war to the government coffers, including the salaries of the troops, will be $21 billion. Add to that the financial loss felt by families and communities from so many young men and women injured or killed, and the impact reaches $28 billion.

I was astounded to see that the Parliamentary Budget Office’s findings, when adjusted to use comparable methodologies, are actually much higher than our own results. Therefore the real cost is higher than anyone imagines.

Our report went a step further to look at our military’s contribution to peacekeeping, and we learned that it has dropped by more than 80 per cent since the beginning of the Afghanistan war. This year the military will spend a paltry $15 million for the entire year on UN peacekeeping, the equivalent of what we spend on the war in just two or three days. We contribute only 63 soldiers for UN peacekeeping operations – they could all fit into a school bus!

Yesterday we were busy discussing the cost of the war to Canadians through the national news media, in both Quebec and the rest of Canada. Here you can watch interviews on CTV Newsnet, CBC Radio, CBC TV, GlobalTV, and Business News Network. We also received coverage in The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and elsewhere.

Our message was this:
• The $18 billion estimate for the cost of the Afghanistan war provided by the Parliamentary Budget Office is very large – the largest anyone has seen. It is welcome information and should serve as a basis for further reporting.

• The number is likely too low, because the office did not receive full co-operation from the departments involved, including the military. The Prime Minister should have instructed departments to co-operate fully.

• It is appalling that Conservative and Liberal MPs voted to extend the war by three years, to December 2011, without even knowing that they were approving the expenditure of an additional $7 billion over the $11 billion already spent.

• With financial storm clouds gathering on the horizon and no large budget surpluses to rely upon, will the government cut social programs to fund the war and avoid tax increases or a deficit?
I would like to hear from you. Do you think the Afghanistan war has been worth the cost? Please leave your comments to this post.

In peace,

Steven Staples
President of the Rideau Institute and
Founder of Ceasefire.ca

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War in Afghanistan to cost Government $20.7 billion, UN Peacekeeping abandoned: Rideau Institute Report

http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=550

The Rideau Institute released a report this week that examines the full cost of Canada’s war in Afghanistan, raising important new questions about the government’s ability to afford the mission with an economic recession looming, and highlighting the corresponding abandonment of Canadian participation in UN peacekeeping efforts.

The war will cost the government of Canada $20.7 billion by 2011. In addition, the loss to the Canadian economy from wounded or killed soldiers will be $7.6 billion, making the total cost of the war to the government and the economy more than $28 billion.

“It’s clear that the government’s budgetary and foreign policy hands will be tied if it intends to keep our troops in Afghanistan through December 2011,” said co-author Steven Staples, President of the Rideau Institute. “The cost of the war in Afghanistan has essentially resulted in the abandonment of Canada’s 50-year commitment to UN peacekeeping,” said Staples.

The report entitled “The Cost of the War and the End of Peacekeeping: The Impact of Extending the Afghanistan Mission” details the financial costs to the government of equipment, salaries, health care costs for military personnel, disability and death payments for casualties, humanitarian aid, as well as the private costs of killed and injured soldiers which are born by them, their families and communities.

In March of this year, the government extended Canada’s mission in Afghanistan beyond its current end date of February 2009 to December 2011 without serious estimation of the financial cost of such a decision. The costs calculated in this report are based on the fact the extension of the mission will resemble the size and scope of the military mission that has been conducted since February 2006.

“Since the Afghanistan mission began and costs for the war continued to rise, the Department of National Defence has reduced Canada’s UN peacekeeping contributions by 83%, from $94.1 million in 2000-01 to an estimated $15.6 million in 2008-09,” said report co-author David Macdonald, an economist and President of Embryonic. “In July 2008, total Canadian personnel contributions to U.N. operations were a mere 167 (including soldiers and police), ranking Canada 53rd of 119 contributing nations, next to Slova kia at 52nd and Malawi at 54th.”

A September 22, 2008 poll conducted by Nanos Research for the Rideau Institute revealed a high degree of public anxiety with Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party’s 20-year, $490 billion Canada First defence strategy, with 51.8% of Canadians supporting a reduction in this planned spending, while 27% of Canadians wanting to see the plan continue as proposed. “Even among Conservative voters, 40% wanted reductions, while 35.6% wanted the plan to continue,” said Staples.

Download the report at http://www.rideauinstitute.ca