Stories on Iraq troop withdrawal, war cost

Posted at 9:11 AM on December 13, 2011 by Paul Tosto

More than $3 trillion.

That's the estimated cost of the Iraq war from two noted scholars, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes. They posted that figure in 2008 and last year concluded it would go far beyond that as the expense of "diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected."

The original estimate as the attack on Iraq began: $50 to $60 billion to remove Saddaam Hussein and form a new government.

Other stories we're looking at today on Iraq:

Iraq withdrawal "double edged sword." "What kind of Iraq will we leave in our wake? Have we met our purported responsibility to the establishment of a new, democratic Iraqi society, the very people we claimed to be "liberating" from the evils of Saddam Hussein's regime?" A Huffington Post essayist asks.

"Iraq will not stand alone." PBS transcript of President Obama's remarks Monday following the president's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.