How much are we really spending on fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Based on this interesting analysis, no one really knows.
Consider some numbers. In FY 2011 Congress has authorized $113 billion for the war in Afghanistan and $46 billion for Iraq. The Department of Defense says says that at the end of April Iraq and Afghanistan were costing an average of $9.7 billion a month (with about 2/3 of that going to Afghanistan). Air conditioning for our troops, including getting the stuff there and maintenance, runs $20 billion a year, according to retired Brig. General Steve Anderson. But because of the complex nature and secretive aspects of the Pentagon budget, no one really knows what the operating costs really are. Some of the money is directly allocated as part of the Pentagon’s budget, still more comes from supplemental appropriations, and still more from secret expenditures, particularly for special forces or intelligence operations.
President Obama has declared that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will costs $1 trillion. A Brown University study claims that the wars and the “ripple effects” of those conflicts have cost the United States $3.7 trillion. That amounts to about $12,000 per American. And even with the drawdown of 33,000 troops in Afghanistan, it’s hard to cut costs. Yes, there are fewer soldiers there. But the cost per soldier is rising. In 2009 it cost $507,000 per service member deployed. In 2011 the costs are expected to reach $694,000.
Can we afford to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan? Can we afford not to?
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