How much does staying in Iraq and Afghanistan have to do with unemployment numbers?

[Frustratedlady]

If we brought all/most the military personnel home, where would they work? I realize Obama is trying to come up with training programs and special incentives for employers to hire vets, but it keeps nagging at me that part of the reason the wars continue is so the unemployment numbers don't explode.

Barney Frank was just proposing ideas on bringing them home to save SS and Medicare by not spending billions in the wars. It seems like such a lost cause to stay there.

[Marie Marie]

1. MY first thought also. Bringing them home would surely add to ranks of the unemployed but

they do usually bring them home in stages over months if not years.

[annm4peace]

2. It is easy. It cost 1 Million per Troop for 1 year in Iraq

For 1 Million we could have smaller class sizes and more teachers. Our tax dollars could fund more counselors and psychologists. We could increase the pay of social workers to help heal society issues.

We could increase drug treatment programs. We could have nannies for for new parents like they do in France.

We could rebuild our infrastructure. We could retrofit homes with energy saving means.


There would be more than enough jobs for them if we brought the money home with them and cut the pentagon in 1/2. If you look at the DOD budget you will see all the toys we could cut out.

[Frustratedlady]

3. Good points. EOM

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Depends on whether you bring them home and terminate their service,,,

or just station them at various bases around the United States where they train?

Keeping the wars going is about Imperial policy not unemployment.

[pinqy]

5. They would work at their regular jobs

The active duty military would still be military (and not counted in the employment/unemployment data) and Reserves/National Guard would return to their civilian jobs. I'm not sure why you think they would add to the UE numbers in any meaningful way. A small increase, perhaps for those Reserves/NG who don't have jobs, but otherwise, it shouldn't have any effect.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Put them to work in all of our factories

Oh, wait a minute ...