The high cost of leaving Iraq

Washington Post:

The removal of about 140,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 will be a "massive and expensive effort" that is likely to increase rather than lower Iraq-related expenditures during the withdrawal and for several years after its completion, government investigators said in a report released yesterday.

"Although reducing troops would appear to lower costs," the Government Accountability Office said, withdrawals from previous conflicts have shown that costs more often rise in the near term. The price of equipment repairs and replacements, along with closing or turning over 283 U.S. military installations in Iraq, "will likely be significant," the GAO reported.

Even the smallest facilities, with 16 to 200 combat troops, will take up to two months to close, the report said. Several dozen large installations -- such as Balad Air Base, with 24,000 inhabitants -- are likely to take 18 months or more.

The report, "Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight," lists other challenges for the withdrawal and post-withdrawal periods, including uncertainties about security for civilian officials, the enormous size of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Iraqi government's ability to sustain basic services and infrastructure.

...

There is more. I think Obama has miscalculated the cost of an early withdrawal. He probably could have saved money by allowing it to take place over a longer time frame.