I never actually calculated how effective the 9/11 attacks were financially for the Al-Qadea attackers. According to Bloomberg, the tactic of financially bankrupting the United States is viable, and has been a deliberate strategy of Al-Qadea. Bloomsberg writes in this article that the terrorist organization spent around $500,000 on the 9/11 attacks, and so far, the response has cost the U.S. over $160 billion in direct costs on the war in Iraq, plus an estimated $1 trillion in economic losses. This amounts to about $2.32 million U.S. dollars spent in reponse to every Al-Qadea dollar.

“The mujahedeen recently forced Bush to resort to emergency funds to continue the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan — with Allah’s permission,” bin Laden said in the video that aired on the Qatar-based satellite network, according to the translation, posted today to al-Jazeera’s Web site.

So, is it a viable strategy? Well, according to Bin Laden, it’s a strategy that worked on the Soviet Union. Soon after the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the system collapsed around them. The United States federal government is currently $7.4 trillion in debt, and our debt is increasing at $1.69 billion per day.

So, have you ever wondered to whom we owe this money, what is the collateral, and when this debt is coming due? Perhaps Bin Laden understands economics better than we do… after all, he already bankrupted one superpower.