I was actually referring to (and leading into the direction) the economic stagnation that followed, in large part due to uncertainty and dread surrounding the ongoing war, which had to be "fixed" by trying to stimulate the economy on with very low interest rates, which led to the housing bubble, which, combined with a massively increased government debt, fights over the debt ceiling, and general political and economic instability of the US, at least in small part contributed to the recession we had in 2008, and the current decline that we can't seem to get ourselves out of (is that good for connecting the dots?) Yes, I'm saying if US didn't spend $3 trillion to invade Iraq, it would have been much better off.
How simple
Connecting the dots where economics are concerned must not be your forte. Going by that logic, I could also easily argue that not doing anything or not invading iraq would have caused the largest drain of oil resources the world has ever seen, causing an even bigger shock that would have eventually lead to a greater depression due to a housing bubble. The uncertainty from 9/11 would have caused a dip in the economies anyway, and be assured that economic cycle is in full swing now. But it's all because of the war, I assume
The housing bubble was in the making since the 90s and especially late 90s when the dot com bubble was coming to a head. Your ulterior motive of trying to slander the war itself at all costs ignores this very obvious fact that the seeds of economic recessions were planted before any war decisions were even considered, certainly before 9/11 and iraq war.
You did not even try to address what greater detrimental impact there would have been if US did not secure anything in the middle east to begin with. The resources themselves were secured better than ever, both physically and economically as a result of US intervention, though you would have to work through the usual bullshit 'waaa you set it all on fire' bitching to actually see the facts.
Why not answer my question? I have already answered yours point by point.