Fox News reported recently, “CBO: Eight Years of Iraq War Cost Less Than Stimulus Act.”   The news is linked and referenced widely by other conservative news outlets and in the comments left by Conservatives across the web.  Yet, there is no mention of this story on CNN, by CBS, or in the New York Times.  Clearly this is an example of the liberal media showing its bias by protecting the Obama administration.  Or is it?

The graph Fox News led with is pretty damning.  It appears to put to rest the claims on the left that Bush’s unfunded spending was on par with Obama’s.  The big tall red lines under the Obama years clearly dwarf the sliver of Iraq spending.

But the graph is also pretty clever.  The article headline refers to the difference in cost between the Iraq War and the ARRA Stimulus program, but the graph depicts deficits, not costs.  Why does that matter?  Because unlike the prevailing sound bite, the major driver of deficits is not out of control spending, but rather loss of revenue.  Take a look at the graph at this link.  There are two major downturns in revenue: the Bush tax cuts and the 2008 economic collapse.  Meanwhile, the spending rate is a relatively straight line.  Yes, it has increased under Obama as a response to the economic disaster, but not as dramatically as some would have you believe.  Certainly, nothing as dramatic as the inflection points in the revenue line.

Are the numbers in the graph accurate?  It would appear so, but the data has been chosen carefully and doesn’t say what the reader or viewer is led to believe.  And the headline?  If the data is chosen correctly, the claim that the Iraq War cost less that the stimulus is accurate.  The CBO direct costs for Operation Iraqi Freedom are estimated at $709B while the ARRA Act comes in at $862B.  Yet while 862 is larger than 709, again, the data is misleading.  The ARRA cost is fixed at $862B.  It can’t go up without additional Congressional approval.  It is what it is.  Meanwhile, the $709B reflects only the direct cost for the Iraq combat mission that is now concluded.  It ignores the $100’s of billions spent in Afghanistan, the ongoing $100B/year that we will continue to spend on Iraq and Afghanistan operations for years to come, and most notably ignores the estimated lifetime cost of $800B in veteran medical costs for returning soldiers.  Most estimates of the total lifetime costs of the two Bush wars start at about $2 trillion and go up from there.

The inescapable conclusion is that this so-called news story was manufactured.  The data was selected and the graph was designed entirely to send a message.  Other news outlets didn’t report this story—not because they don’t agree with its ideology, but because it doesn’t actually exist.  Unfortunately, many Fox viewers will never do the homework required to understand that… nor should they have to.