By now, most people have heard that the United States government is making plans to invade Iraq. Why? Why would any government leak its battle plans to the press months before an invasion was planned? Are officials trying to figure out how the public would react to an invasion? Are they distracting the public from some other geopolitical game that the Bush administration wants to play? It’s a peculiar, and therefore suspect, way to behave.
All this advance notice has at least given the world an opportunity to see how ill-conceived the plans are. The New York Times explains one excellent reason to cancel the invasion entirely: War with Iraq could devastate the American economy and cause worldwide recession.
Already, the federal budget deficit is expanding, meaning that the bill for a war would lead either to more red ink or to cutbacks in domestic programs.
If consumer and investor confidence remains fragile, military action could have substantial psychological effects on the financial markets, retail spending, business investment, travel and other key elements of the economy, officials and experts said.
If oil supplies are disrupted, as they were during the 1991 gulf war, and prices rise sharply, the economic effects would be felt in the United States and around the world.
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