Iraq's Toll Spirals Into Trillions

In 2002 Donald Rumsfeld envisioned an Iraq war price tag of "something under $50 billion," but a Harvard professor and a Nobel-prize winning economist now pin the total cost at $3 trillion, with a "running cost" of $12.5 billion a month. As the Iraq war enters its sixth year next week, the Christian Science Monitor takes a look at the varying estimates.

Other experts say the $3 trillion figure is grossly inflated. But, even without factoring in "macro" costs like the rising price of oil and a high medical inflation rate for veteran care, conservative estimates figure Iraq will cost at least $1 trillion. However, concedes the Monitor, all projections are still just that. (More Iraq war stories.)