01 September 2007

Funding Extended Conflicts: Korea, Vietnam, and the War on Terror

by Richard M. Miller

From the publisher:
"Rick Miller has done a great service for those who are charged with national security resource management in a time of protracted conflict. His book fairly and logically treats the budgeting, appropriations requests, and execution costs of the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and now the GWOT. It should be required reading for future national security resource managers at war colleges and public policy schools." - Donald L. Pilling, ADM, USN (Retired)

"Think of it this way: accurate war fund prediction is analogous to forecasting springtime weather in the South--at best, you might not get wet. Richard M. Miller, Commander, US Navy, deftly navigates the sometimes abstruse and always unpredictable waters that are military conflict resourcing. With history as his beacon, Commander Miller presents a lucid analysis of, and keen insight into, the inherently equivocal and difficult task of projecting war funding. Timely. Relevant. Immensely readable." - Richard B. Myers, General USAF (retired) and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"When my Congressional Nominee, Rick Miller, was selected for admittance by the U. S. Navel Academy in 1985 I was impressed with his accomplishment and hopeful regarding his future. Now, he not only has a distinguished and honorable service record but he has also written an important treatise on the funding of defense efforts. Having been a part of it for many years, I believe CDR Miller has given us an important understanding of how Congress funds our military and how we can more fully understand the complete cost of war. This book is destined to be critical reading for anyone who wants to understand how we fund "the dogs of war"." - Dick Armey, Former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives

One aspect of war is often overlooked: how much do they cost and how are they funded. Funding Extended Conflicts develops a baseline on Federal spending for the two extended conflicts of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, and compares them with the global war on terror, including current outlays for Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides wartime cases that offer recommendations on how to pay for future wars and focuses on the length of the "tails" of such spending, which are often omitted in the final analyses and distort funding estimates. Background chapters examine financing and budget issues as well as problems associated with defining the real cost of Korea, Vietnam, and the so-called "long war" against terrorism and are complemented by an assessment of the open-ended commitment to support homeland defense and conduct ongoing military operations in Southwest Asia.