Cost of second war in Iraq 'impossible to know'
Estimates from $60 billion, cost of '91 war; to $200 billion
From Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It is "impossible to know" what the cost of a 2003 war in Iraq might be, and the only reference point is the price tag of the 1991 Persian Gulf War -- $60 billion -- a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget said Tuesday.
The spokesman, Trent Duffy, said OMB Director Mitch Daniels did not intend to imply, in an interview with The New York Times, that $50 billion to $60 billion is a hard White House estimate.
"He said it could, could be $60 billion," Duffy said. "It is impossible to know what any military campaign would ultimately cost. The only cost estimate we know of in this arena is the Persian Gulf War, and that was a $60 billion event."
Duffy also was careful to caution that U.S. President George W. Bush has not made any decisions to use military force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
In September, Daniels disputed an estimate by then-Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey that war with Iraq could cost $200 billion. Daniels believes Lindsey's estimate was "the upper end of a hypothetical," his spokesman said.
Congressional Democrats estimated the cost of a military attack against Iraq at around $93 billion last fall, but noted the figure did not include costs such as U.S. peacekeeping efforts, foreign assistance or loan forgiveness, or the economic impact should an oil crisis ensue.
But outgoing Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, concurred with the OMB in a statement Tuesday, saying. "The reality is no one knows how much it will cost us to wage war with Iraq."
"Mitch Daniels' $50 billion to $60 billion estimate is as viable as Larry Lindsey's $100 billion to $200 billion estimate in September. So much depends on the duration and type of combat forces as well as the presence, duration and size of a peacekeeping force," said Conrad.
The $60 billion price tag for the 1991 Persian Gulf War was shared among many countries in the U.S.-led coalition against Saddam. It is unclear how many nations would join in and pick up some of the cost of another military campaign in Iraq.
