In the two decades since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. has spent approximately $8 trillion on war, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs.
Of that amount, more than $2 trillion alone was spent on the War in Afghanistan, said the “Costs of War” research.
A breakdown of the overall U.S. war costs since 2001 shows that:
· $2,102 billion went towards the overseas contingency operations Dept. of Defense budget,
· $1,117 billion went towards Homeland Security prevention and terrorism response efforts,
· $1,087 billion was marked as interest spending in overseas contingency operations borrowing,
· $884 billion was marked as an increase to the Dept. of Defense budget in response to the wars,
· $465 billion was spent on veterans’ medical care and disability,
· $189 billion was spent on State Dept. overseas contingency operations appropriations, and
· $2.2 trillion is marked for obligations to veteran care over the next 30 years
A breakdown of the War in Afghanistan numbers shows that:
· $1,055 billion went towards the overseas contingency operations Dept. of Defense budget,
· $532 billion was marked as interest spending in overseas contingency operations borrowing,
· $433 billion was marked as an increase to the Dept. of Defense budget in response to the wars,
· $233 billion was spent on veterans’ medical care and disability, and
· $60 billion was spent on State Dept. overseas contingency operations appropriations
According to USA Today, spending measured by the Watson Institute includes direct and indirect spending from military equipment to death gratuities for the families of slain American service members. What the figures don’t include is the cost to evacuate 123,000 people from Afghanistan before the final U.S. military forces left this week.
In wrapping up two decades of occupation in Afghanistan, the U.S. was surprised that the Taliban – a fundamentalist Islamic group that ran the country before the U.S. arrived – quickly gained back control from the U.S.-backed government. With the Taliban takeover came human rights concerns and ISIS-K attributed bombings that claimed 13 U.S. service members.
Neta C. Crawford, a Brown University political science professor and author of the Watson Institute report, said it should not be up to private researchers to estimate the price tag of these conflicts.
“One of the most important duties of any great nation when it goes to war is to have a clear-eyed discussion of the costs, risks and benefits of war,” she said.
President Joe Biden cited the Watson Institute research Tuesday in a defense of his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, according to USA Today. He said costs amounted to to $300 million a day over two decades.
“There's nothing low-grade or low-risk or low-cost about any war,” said the president.
Watson Institute data indicates the post-Sept. 11 direct war zones claimed 827,000 to 929,000 lives, including up to 387,072 civilians, 2,324 U.S. service members in Afghanistan and 4,598 U.S. service members in Iraq. In July, Biden also announced plans to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, which began in 2003, by the end of 2021.