War with Iraq could cost the United States anywhere from $63 billion to more than $1.2 trillion over a decade, researchers have concluded.
In the worst case, a war could consume the equivalent of an entire federal budget for one year or close to that, according to the projections, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences study said. The US government spent $1.3 trillion last year.
The lower figure assumes a successful military, diplomatic and nation-building campaign and the higher figure a prolonged war with a disruption to oil markets and a US recession, the study said. Both figures assume US involvement in the country for 10 years.
Direct military spending could be $32 billion in a short campaign to $89 billion in a prolonged war, according to the study, War With Iraq: Costs, Consequences and Alternatives.
A prolonged disruption of world oil markets could cost the US economy up to $500 billion, the researchers estimated.
On the other hand, Iraq's huge oil resources could satisfy US needs for imported oil at current levels for almost a century and otherwise benefit the economy by $25 billion.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1780 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is an international society of scientists, scholars, artists, business people and political leaders.
AP