Quagmire faceoff: Vietnam vs. Iraq

Vietnam or Iraq -- which American quagmire is better for the economy and the stock market? Iraq, of course!

As the current Oval Office occupant puts another 21,500 troops into harm's way in Iraq, it's worth comparing the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The Christian Science Monitor proudly reports that Congress has appropriated a mere $507 billion for Iraq. This is 15.5% less than the $600 billion spent (on an inflation-adjusted basis) on Vietnam.

But when you look at the cost of the two wars as a percent of GDP, Iraq is a really thrifty quagmire. That's because Vietnam cost roughly 9% of GDP, whereas with a $13 trillion economy, Iraq costs us less than 1% of GDP.

But that's not all. Since the Iraq war began on March 20, 2003, the S&P 500 has risen 63% -- an impressive 16.8% per year! The Vietnam war can't even come close. Between May 31, 1961 when John F. Kennedy ordered 100 troops to South Vietnam and April 29, 1975 when the last American soldier was killed there, the S&P 500 rose 33% -- a mere 2% per year.

In case my sarcasm was not obvious enough, I believe that America should not wait two years to put an end to the Iraq madness. One way to end the wait would be to impeach Bush and Cheney. E-mailing this to your Congressional representatives in Washington could open a debate on the issue.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, a Professor of Management at Babson College, and editor of The Cohan Letter.