The US government has spent over $2.26 trillion on its failed war in Afghanistan, according to the latest numbers from Brown University’s Costs of War Project. The report also estimates that the war has directly killed 241,000 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The $2.26 trillion in spending was broken down into five categories. The single greatest expense was $933 billion, which was covered by the Defense Department’s Overseas Contingency Operations Budget. The second-highest cost is the estimated interest accrued by borrowing money for the war, which accounts for $530 billion.
The Pentagon’s base budget saw increases over the years for the war in Afghanistan that accounts for the third-highest expense at $443 billion. Care for veterans of the war comes in fourth at $296 billion, a number that will continue to rise for decades to come. The State Department’s budget for Afghanistan comes in fifth at $59 billion.
The report estimates that out of the 241,000 people killed by the war, 71,344 were civilians, including 47,245 in Afghanistan and 24,099 in Pakistan. The numbers do not account for indirect deaths due to conditions caused by the war, like loss of access to food, disease, or infrastructure damage.
The updated report comes after President Biden said he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan by September 11th, although it’s not clear if there will be a continued presence of US contractors or special forces. Either way, the cost of the war will continue to rise. Besides the veteran care and future interest payments, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the US plans to continue “paying salaries” for the Afghan military.
I bet that is a very conservative estimate. My old man always said is there anything more stupid and wasteful then war? He was right.
US government has spent over $2.26 trillion means the operation has been a wild success. What a gold mine! Why stop?
Exactly … people think the war has to have achievable objectives other than spending money … this is simply false.
It’s good knowing that our country is in such excellent shape in terms of its infrastructure, our citizens’ health, welfare and retirement funding, and the country’s general finances, that we did not have any better uses for our $2 trillion plus.
Seriously, Smedley Butler informed Americans about the racket almost a hundred years ago and MLK told us how we’d never be a truly great nation is we did not stop our imperial wars and many other great thinkers have done their bit over the years too, not least this site; but NONE of this seems to penetrate the brains of the populace in the face of the warporn of the MSM.
Add to that number the amount of bailout the Wall Street banks have received since September 17, 2017: $9.6 TRILLION.
For their “liquidity problem”, according to Fed Chairman Powell.
God has given this nation over to a base and stupid mind.
“The main purpose of war is not killing, it is buying and selling”
and destruction. to keep those alive in poverty.
The money in this case ended up in the desired pockets, and did not disappear into the ether.