WASHINGTON, 13 July 2007 — The United States has spent well over half a trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to independent congressional analysts who say the boost in troop levels in Iraq has increased the cost of war there and in Afghanistan to $12 billion a month.
Since the strike on Afghanistan launched after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, the United States has spent $610 billion on the two wars, and on protecting US bases worldwide, said the report, updated late last month.
Iraq has accounted so far for $450 billion, the report said. In fiscal year 2007 alone, the Iraq operation sucked up $165.8, an increase of 40 percent year-on-year. The new figures by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) emerged as debate hit a critical point in Washington over the huge human and financial costs of the four-year conflict in Iraq.
The report also provided a glimpse into the astronomical costs of US military operations in years to come, saying the global war on terror could have churned through a stunning $1.4 trillion by 2017.
The report, required by law, is expected to be delivered to Capitol Hill by the end of this week, as the Senate takes up a $649 billion defense policy bill and votes on a Democratic amendment ordering troop withdrawals to begin in 120 days.
CRS, which exists to provide nonpartisan and independent advice to lawmakers and congressional committees, said the huge financial cost of the war was set to rise. If 2008 funding requests are granted in full, the report said, war spending will rise to $758 billion, with $567 billion spent on Iraq.
For the 2007 budget year, CRS says, the $166 billion appropriated to the Pentagon represents a 40 percent increase over 2006. The Vietnam War, after accounting for inflation, cost taxpayers $650 billion, according to separate CRS estimates.
The report faults the Pentagon for using the Iraq war as a pretext for boosting the Pentagon’s nonwar budget by costs such as increasing the size of the military and procurement of replacement aircraft as war-related items.
The $12 billion a month “burn rate” includes $10 billion for Iraq and almost $2 billion for Afghanistan, plus other minor costs. That’s higher than Pentagon estimates earlier this year of $10 billion a month for both operations. Two years ago, the average monthly cost was about $8 billion.
Among the reasons for the higher costs is the cost of repairing and replacing equipment worn out in harsh conditions or destroyed in combat.
If Congress approves President George W. Bush’s pending request for another $147 billion for the budget year starting Oct. 1, the total bill for the wars since Sept. 11 would reach more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars, with appropriations for Iraq reaching $567 billion.
Also, if the increase in war tempo continues beyond September, the Pentagon’s request “would presumably be inadequate,” CRS said.
Congress approved $99 billion in war funding in May after a protracted battle and a Bush veto of an earlier measure over Democrats’ attempt to set a timeline for withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq.
The new estimate comes as the White House and Democrats are fighting over spending bills for next year. That battle is over about $22 billion — almost the cost of two months’ fighting in Iraq.
How this will affect the US economy is not yet clear. Analysts say the total America debt is now at over $48 trillion, or $161,287 per capita.
That’s $45,514 more debt per family than last year. Last year total debt increased $3.9 trillion, 5 times more than GDP. External debt owed foreign interests increased $1 trillion.
