Iran War Cost Tracker • Hacker News Board

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#311

Post by keybored » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

throwaw12 wrote: post #264

roncesvalles wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is akin to someone in 1861 saying US cotton plantations, and by extension the entire Southern economy, aren't viable without slavery, so let's allow slavery to run. Western liberal civilization has theta decay without occasional violent intervention. Imagine if we didn't go all-out against communism.

By the way, I am not saying we should exploit people, I am just saying majority of people don't care about what they are not seeing face to face or feeling face to face, majority people care about direct impact on their pockets and lifestyle.

People can speak for themselves.

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#312

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:14 PM UTC

hereme888 wrote: post #203

nprz wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe killing 175 children[0] will bring peace and prosperity to the Iranian people? [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/world/middleeast/girls-sc...

That news piece was officially dismissed after investigation by the IDF and CENTCOM. I would bring to your awareness that you're using an emotional argument with no substance, and it discounts the decades of complex history in the region.

[deleted]

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#313

Post by karmakurtisaani » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:15 PM UTC

throwaw12 wrote: post #145

cvoss wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government's job is not to maximize its ROI. For example, (and I make no argument about whether the current situation does this), protecting its citizens is of extreme moral importance, even if it's very very expensive and unlikely to somehow feed back into the economy in a way that recoups the cost long term.

> protecting its citizens is of extreme moral importance If you are relating protecting citizens with current situation, NO country dares to attack US citizens in the US soil. US, at this time, doesn't need to protect its citizens, especially in the US, from attacks by other nations, 0, none. No threat.

On the contrary, by starting this war the government kmjust made terrorist attacks more likely. It's laughably naive to think this dumbfuck war has anything to do with Trump caring about regular Americans.

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#314

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC

s3p wrote: post #281

marginalia_nu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is fundamentally poorly formed, and as a consequence, so is the rebuttal. A state can pay for anything, since it doesn't have to be in a budget surplus. Household budget analogies emerge any time someone wants to limit spending, or criticize spending, but one of the biggest points of Wealth of Nations (which is the foundation for modern macroeconomics) is that the budget of a state is fundamentally diffe…

Where do you see a question?

[deleted]

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#315

Post by marginalia_nu » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC

s3p wrote: post #281

marginalia_nu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is fundamentally poorly formed, and as a consequence, so is the rebuttal. A state can pay for anything, since it doesn't have to be in a budget surplus. Household budget analogies emerge any time someone wants to limit spending, or criticize spending, but one of the biggest points of Wealth of Nations (which is the foundation for modern macroeconomics) is that the budget of a state is fundamentally diffe…

Where do you see a question?

> Next time someone asks [...]

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#316

Post by keybored » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC

antonkochubey wrote: post #287

readitalready wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no moral justification for Israel's right to exist. Israel does not have a right to exist. They exist purely as a foreign invasion force originally started by European Jews - who didn't even practice or believe in Judaism - in order to make their own private racist mediterranean resort state by killing the native people and stealing their land. What makes you think anyone would want support their existence o…

I wonder if perhaps something has happened to European Jews in the 1930s that made them look for a place to re-settle

Zionism started long before Nazi Germany.

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#317

Post by khazhoux » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:17 PM UTC

throwaw12 wrote: post #263

roncesvalles wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is akin to someone in 1861 saying US cotton plantations, and by extension the entire Southern economy, aren't viable without slavery, so let's allow slavery to run. Western liberal civilization has theta decay without occasional violent intervention. Imagine if we didn't go all-out against communism.

> ... so let's allow slavery to run. Obviously we look at world differently, but I was under impression that slavery wasn't abolished, it just got different form with slightly more rights. Late-Capitalism as slave owners, workers as slaves, because their health insurance tied to their work, they can be punished without notice (at will employment), wealth gap is 50-2000x between Lord in feudalism (CEO / rich / ultrari…

No offense intended, but that is an ignorant take. The law of the land in the U.S. was that one human could literally own another human being (with all the implications of property ownership, including disposing of it and abusing it at your leisure). How such a despicable mindset took hold and was allowed to go on for so long, is beyond modern comprehension.

You mentioned many other injustices but none of those are "slavery but just different with slightly more rights."

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#318

Post by s1artibartfast » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

roughly wrote: post #45

BJones12 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given 50 million schoolkids in the US and a cost per meal per child of $4, the current number represents 10 meals. At 1 meal a day that would be 2 school weeks, at 2 meals a day that would be 1 school week.

We've been at this for 2.5 days, and the president is suggesting this could last a month or more. I suspect the long term ROI on free school lunches is going to far exceed that of this war, as well.

99% of school lunches have zero ROI. Parents can provide them just fine.

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#319

Post by bjourne » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

irishcoffee wrote: post #309

bjourne wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This justification for bombing Iran is dumb as fuck. In a few days the number of civilians killed by US-Israeli bombings will surpass the number of civilians killed by the regime in decades.

Possibly. What is that threshold? I've heard anywhere from 3k to 300k. You can definitively answer this question?

Killing more people won't bring dead people back to life! I can't believe I have to spell this out.

Re: Iran War Cost Tracker

#320

Post by dfxm12 » Tue, Mar 03, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

nphardon wrote: post #293

Where does this money go? I see that some is lost value, like in the downed aircraft, but what groups are profiting off this crazy flow?

Defense contractors, the oil companies who get to rebuild, private security, etc. You can do a web search for who profited from the Iraq war. It's mostly all the same. This war also has a religious component to it, as a US combat unit commander has said "the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth": https://jonathanlarsen.substack.com/p/us-troops-were-told-ir...