Who Won and Who Lost

As we head into the sequel of the great recession, we get this timely reminder from Joe Stiglitz on the appalling cost of our responses to terrorism.

Though the financial cost has been staggering, and will undoubtedly stay with us for years to come, it is the human cost that truly beggars the imagination. As he notes:

In Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. and its allies knew that long-term victory required winning hearts and minds. But mistakes in the early years of those wars complicated that already-difficult battle. The wars' collateral damage has been massive: By some accounts, more than 1 million Iraqis have died, directly or indirectly, because of the war. According to some studies, at least 137,000 civilians have died violently in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last 10 years. Among Iraqis alone, there are 1.8 million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced people.

And when we are gone, we will be trillions of dollars in debt and both will remain failed states. So who won?