New Report Says America's 20-Year War On Terror Has killed 929,000 People And Cost Over $8 Trillion

Business Insider: America's 20-year war on terror has killed up to 929,000 people and cost over $8 trillion: report  

* America's global war on terror has a pricetag of $8 trillion, according to a new Costs of War report. 

* Costs of War also puts the number of people directly killed by the war at up to 929,000, including at least 387,072 civilians. 

* "Twenty years from now, we'll still be reckoning with the high societal costs of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars," a co-director of the project said. 

The price-tag of America's global war on terror is estimated to stand at roughly $8 trillion, according to a new report from Brown University's Costs of War project. 

The estimate factors in "future costs for veteran's care, the total budgetary costs and future obligations of the post-9/11 wars." 

The report attributes $2.3 trillion to the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zone, $2.1 trillion to the Iraq and Syria war zone, and $355 billion to other war zones.  

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WNU Editor: The report is here .... The True Costs Of The Post-9/11 Wars (Brown University).

Wars Have Cost The U.S. $6.4 Trillion Over The Past 20 Years

Mish Talks: Forever War in the Last 20 Years Cost $6.4 Trillion

Since 911, the cost of Forever War totals $6.4 Trillion and 801,000 killed including 335,000 dead civilians. For What?

Neta C. Crawford, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Boston University and a co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University calculates the [Cost of 20 Years of War].

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WNU Editor: And the costs continue to rise.

What Is The Real Cost Of Post-9/11 Wars?

Sputnik: ‘Credit Card Wars’: Pentagon Grossly Underestimates Cost of Post-9/11 Wars

The Pentagon estimates that the cost of war since the fateful terror attacks on 9/11 rounds out to $1.5 trillion, yet experts maintain that this figure wildly underestimates the true financial burden of perpetual war.

"After 16 years, should the taxpayers of America be satisfied we are in a ‘stalemate?' I don't think so," the late Sen. John McCain said in 2017.

The Pentagon's $1.5 trillion figure purports to cover the time period from September 11, 2001, until March 31, 2018. While this may seem like a large sum of money, it's only about twice the 2017 Pentagon budget of $700 billion. About $1.5 trillion might be a reasonable ballpark estimate for war spending in the past few years, but to suggest it as the gross cost of 17 years of bombings; costs per hour to fly military aircraft; supplies for personnel overseas; costs of lost, damaged and stolen equipment; soldier pay; and more is almost an offense to reason.

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WNU Editor: The Pentagon's $1.5 trillion cost report is here .... Department of Defense report on the cost of the collective wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The Brown University report is here .... Costs of War. The above reports do not take into account the damage, loss of life and injuries to civilians, and costs to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

Report: The Cost Of America's Wars In The MIddle East And Asia Is Appraoching $6 Trillion

A United States Army loadmaster stands on the rear ramp of a CH-47F Chinook and watches the sunset as it flies over Kabul, Afghanistan. (Julie A. Kelemen/Defense Department)

Military Times: Report: Full cost of U.S. wars overseas approaching $6 trillion

WASHINGTON — Overseas combat operations since 2001 have cost the United States an estimated $4.3 trillion so far, and trillions more in veterans benefits spending in years to come, according to the latest analysis from the Costs of War project.

The annual analysis from Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs shows a steadily growing tally for the 16 years of wars overseas. Study author Neta Crawford said the goal of the ongoing project is to better illustrate the true costs of overseas military operations.

“Every war costs money before, during and after it occurs — as governments prepare for, wage, and recover from armed conflict by replacing equipment, caring for the wounded and repairing infrastructure destroyed in the fighting,” she wrote in the 2017 report.

Of the total, only about $1.9 trillion has been reported by defense officials as official overseas contingency operations funding.

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WNU Editor: The report is here .... US Budgetary Costs of Post-9/11 Wars Through FY2018: $5.6 Trillion (Watson Institute/Brown University).

How Much Would A War With North Korea Cost?

An undated photograph released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 26 April 2017 shows a combined fire demonstration of North Korean artillery. SBS

Anthony Fensom, National Interest: Why War with North Korea Could Cost Trillions of Dollars

Unleashing Trump's “fire and fury” on North Korea would rack up both human and financial costs.

War with North Korea could result in the death of fifty thousand or more Americans and more than two million Korean casualties. However, the economic cost would be massive, too, running into potentially trillions of dollars for the United States, while damaging Asia’s biggest economies.

The 1950–1953 Korean War caused 33,651 U.S. casualties and cost the United States an estimated $20 billion. For South Korea, it caused 1.2 million deaths and saw the value of its gross domestic product (GDP) slump by more than 80 percent.

However, the cost of a second Korean War would be far greater, according to Capital Economics.

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WNU Editor: Aside from the human cost .... the cost of a war on the Korea Peninsula would run in the trillions. The cost to the U.S. would be in the trillions. The hit on the global economy .... a few trillion more. If nuclear weapons are used and/or China gets directly involved .... we will be living in a very different world.

The High Cost Of Munitions

Tobin Harshaw, Bloomberg: Nice Superweapon. Too Bad You Can't Afford to Fire It.

Talk about taking a bazooka to kill a fly: A U.S. general reported last week than an unnamed ally used a $3.4 million Patriot missile to shoot down a hostile $200 commercial drone. General David Perkins's point wasn't that this was a technically remarkable feat -- although it certainly was given the tiny target -- but to point out yet another asymmetric advantage global terrorists' hold: it costs the West an unconscionable amount of money to combat even the most basic ad-hoc threats.

For the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon stocked up on $500,000 ambush-resistant vehicles and $150,000 bomb-disposal robots for protection against improvised explosives put together for a few hundred dollars. Unmanned aircraft have proved one the most effective tools in fighting jihadis, but consider the cost of a single strike: a Reaper drone made by General Atomics has a sticker price of $17 million, costs at least $2,500 an hour to fly, and fires a $100,000 Hellfire Romeo missile made by Lockheed Martin Corp.

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WNU Editor: My best story on the high cost of munitions is .... by far .... this one .... The Ammo For The U.S. Navy Newest Destroyer Is Just Too Expensive (December 17, 2016).

Wars Cost The World $13 Trillion In 2015

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Washington Post: The world lost more than $13 trillion last year because of war

Violence and worsening conflict cost the world more than $13.6 trillion last year, according to an annual study of the toll of violence worldwide. That figure amounts to some 13 percent of global GDP.

The analysis can be found within the Global Peace Index 2016 report, which is put out each year by the Institute of Economics and Peace, an Australia-based think-tank. It ranked 163 countries on the degree of peace within their borders. The results since the initiative began are not encouraging: "The last decade has seen a historic decline in world peace, interrupting the long term improvements since WWII," a press release indicates.

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Update #1: Wars Cost World $13 Trillion Last Year -- VOA
Update #2: Global violence cost you $1,876 in 2015 (CNBC)

WNU Editor: To say that this is a jaw-dropping number is an understatement.

A Look At Past And Present Military Programs That Cost Untold Billions Of Dollars

Hitler's Atlantic Wall - $200 Billion

Ranker: The Biggest Military Wastes of Money

The staggering amount of money available to the US Armed Forces has resulted in wasteful military spending on a grand scale and some of the worst military spending in history. As technology changes and improves, new designs in tanks, planes, weapons, and vehicles have to be developed - all of which cost huge amounts. But the military is plagued by bureaucratic inefficiency, redundancy, procurement issues, changing priorities, and a process that simply takes too long.

As a result, the last 30 years are littered with futuristic, pointless military projects that never saw a day of action. Lasers, stealth ships, high-tech tanks and guns, communications systems, even uniforms - all have been developed at massive costs, and done little to nothing to keep the nation or its armed forces safe. The most egregious, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, might top out at $1.5 trillion - more than the GDP of all but 11 countries on earth - and it's never fired a shot.

WNU Editor: Hmmm .... nuclear weapons are not on this list (the MX is on the list but it is a missile system, not a nuclear weapon) ... and when one looks at  the research,  development, construction, and maintenance of nuclear weapons .... it is probably the greatest expenditure of money for a "project" that the world has ever seen.

What Would Be The Cost For America If It Goes To War In Syria

How Much Would War In Syria Cost? -- Reason

Defense budgets are out of control. Adding another war won't help.

The United States in August and September began considering in earnest whether or not to become militarily involved in Syria. There are many tough and contentious questions about that decision, but one fact is undeniable: It would be expensive.

In a 2010 paper, Stephen Daggett of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimated the costs of all major U.S. wars expressed in contemporary dollars, from the American Revolution through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the caveat that comparing war costs over a 230-year period is "inherently problematic" because the definition of war has varied and official numbers have included and measured different things over time, and also "because of the difficulties in comparing prices from one vastly different era to another," Daggett nonetheless concludes that the trend is clear: Wars aren't cheap.

According to his estimates, the American Revolution cost $2.4 billion (all numbers are in constant FY2011 dollars), World War I cost $334 billion, World War II cost $4.1 trillion, and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined have cost around $1.1 trillion and growing.

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My Comment: Bottom line .... the numbers are staggering.

Is The High Cost Of Wars The Biggest Threat To U.S. National Security?

An Afghan child waves a flag at a member of coalition forces as he patrols to a medical clinic led by Afghan national security forces in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, March 12, 2013. Coalition and Afghan forces held the clinic to promote improved security, governance and development. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua Kruger

Biggest Threat to U.S. National Security: Wars -- Danger

In 2004, Osama bin Laden explained how his terrorists were going to win its struggle against a vastly more powerful adversary: al-Qaida sought to “blee[d] America to the point of bankruptcy.” Bin Laden is dead and his organization is a shadow of what it once was. Yet a new paper from a Harvard lecturer suggests that he had a point.

Linda J. Bilmes of the Harvard Kennedy School estimates that the wars bin Laden provoked the U.S. into launching over the past decade have cost “somewhere between $4 and $6 trillion.” She reaches that staggeringly high total by calculating not just what the U.S. spent on fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also what it will spend on veterans’ health care and benefits; equipment refurbishment; future commitments made to the Iraqi and Afghan governments the U.S. sponsors; and the repayment of the debt incurred by financing the wars through foreign borrowing. Notably, by Bilmes’ framework, the real costs of the wars will only manifest long after the troops have come home.

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My Comment: Osama Bin Laden did have a point when he stated that his intention was to "bleed" the U.S. dry. But one can also make the case that losing wars can also become a threat to U.S. national security.

What Is The True Cost Of The Iraq And Afghan Wars?

Iraq and Afghanistan Will Cost Trillions in the Future -- Matthew Yglesias, Slate

Kennedy School professor Linda Bilmes finds that the all-in costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will measure in the $4 trillion to $6 trillion range when all is said and done. But that's not the most terrifying element of her survey of the fiscal impact of the "war on terror" and related undertakings. What should really strike fear into your heart is her finding that "the largest portion of that bill is yet to be paid."

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Previous Post: Iraq War Costs U.S. More Than $2 Trillion

My Comment: Mother Jones did their own analysis on the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars. As to what is my take .... stay away from "wars of choice".

Costs Of War

Costs of War: 225,000 Lives and up to US$4 Trillion from Watson Institute on Vimeo.

225,000 Killed, $3.2 - 4 Trillion -- Costs Of War

The President of the United States has told the American people and the rest of the world that even as the U.S. withdraws some troops from Afghanistan and continues to withdraw from Iraq, the wars will continue for some years. The debate over why each war was begun and whether either or both should have been fought continues.

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My Comment: An interesting web site .... if you have the time, browse through it.

The Cost Of War In Iraq And Afghanistan -- A News Roundup

The sun sets behind U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jamie R. Johnson, a platoon sergeant assigned to Bayonet Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force No Slack, as he patrols Afghanistan's Kunar province, March 17, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Mark Burrell

Was Obama Low-Balling The Cost Of War? -- Robert Zeliger, Foreign Policy

The price tag for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq since the 9/11 attacks is somewhere between $3.7 and $4.4 trillion, according to a new report released today. The staggering figure is nearly four times higher than the U.S. government estimate. Just last week, President Barack Obama pegged the cost over the last decade at $1 trillion.

The new estimated cost provided by a research project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, is also much higher than most previous attempts to quantify the operations.

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More News On Brown University's Watson Institute For International Studies On The Cost Of Our Wars

Afghanistan, Iraq Wars Killed 132,000 Civilians, Report Says -- The Danger Room
U.S. cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting -- Reuters
New estimate of U.S. war costs: $4 trillion -- Washington Post
Report: Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Cost US Nearly $4 Trillion -- Voice of America
Study: US war spending could top $4 trillion -- Al Jazeera
New Estimate For The Cost Of U.S. Wars: About $4 Trillion -- NPR
Wars to Leave $4 Trillion Hole in US Budget: Study -- Wall Street Journal
Costs of U.S. war on terror up to 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars: report -- Xinhuanet
Price of U.S. wars: $4.4 trillion? -- Politico
FACTBOX-Highlights of "Costs of War" research -- Reuters
'War on terror' set to surpass cost of Second World War -- Independent

The Cost Of America's War

U.S. Marines depart a checkpoint and patrol back to Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30, 2010. The Marines are assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mark Fayloga

The True Cost Of The War On Terror: $3.7Trillion And Counting… And Up To 258,000 Lives -- The Daily Mail

The cost of U.S. military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will run to at least $3.7trillion, a study has revealed today.

The staggering figure could reach as high as $4.4trillion, with the deaths of up to 258,000 people, according to research by Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies.

In human terms, 224,000 to 258,000 people have died directly from warfare - including 125,000 civilians in Iraq.

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Update #1: U.S. cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting -- Reuters
Update #2: FACTBOX-Highlights of "Costs of War" research -- Reuters

My Comment: For me .... the true cost of the war has been this, and we will now have to live for the rest of our lives with this.

The War Against Bin Laden Has Cost $3 Trillion Over 15 Years

The Cost Of Bin Laden: $3 Trillion Over 15 Years -- National Journal

Osama bin Laden cost America more than any villain, ever—which is exactly the way he wanted it.

The most expensive public enemy in American history died Sunday from two bullets.

As we mark Osama bin Laden’s death, what’s striking is how much he cost our nation—and how little we’ve gained from our fight against him. By conservative estimates, bin Laden cost the United States at least $3 trillion over the past 15 years, counting the disruptions he wrought on the domestic economy, the wars and heightened security triggered by the terrorist attacks he engineered, and the direct efforts to hunt him down.

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My Comment: While this number is staggering, what is troublesome is that much of Al Qaeda still exists, and all that it will take is another 9/11 (or worse) to increase and escalate this cost. This war is not over by any means .... and I sometimes wonder (and shudder) over the idea that after so much death and destruction, this long war may just be starting.

Should We Change How We Budget For War?

Michael Pannone, right, teaches firearms and tactics to U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team on Fort Bragg, N.C., March 23, 2011. Pannone is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who teaches weapons and tactics skills. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod

The $1 Million Soldier: What's Wrong With How We Budget War -- CNN

The two-week-old military action in Libya has prompted a frenzy of headlines and sound bites about the operation's cost.

Can the United States afford it?

The short answer is "yes." The defense budget exceeds $500 billion a year, so the Pentagon has money on hand to pay for Libya.

But that's not the whole story. The recent events in Libya have opened up a long-standing and important debate about how we pay for our wars and military endeavors around the world.

The crux of the problem is that in recent years, Congress has paid for wars through emergency supplemental bills. At the same time, other defense costs were allowed to spin out of control.

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My Comment: I am skeptical that there can be savings in the defense budget by shifting how it is funded .... i.e. funding the wars not by a s supplemental budget but as a part of the defense budget itself. The bottom line is that wars .... today .... are very expensive endeavors. And number crunching and shifting of monies from one part of the budget to another part will not bring the savings that they hope for.

Fighting Wars Is Not A Cheap Proposition

The War: A Trillion Can Be Cheap -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Like everything else, war is a lot more expensive than it used to be.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost Americans a staggering $1 trillion to date, second only in inflation-adjusted dollars to the $4 trillion price tag for World War II, when the United States put 16 million men and women into uniform and fought on three continents.

Sticker shock is the inevitable first reaction to the latest statistics on the costs of all major United States wars since the American Revolution, compiled by the Congressional Research Service and released late last month, and the figures promise to play into intensifying political and economic pressures to restrain the Pentagon budget.

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My Comment: Not fighting them can eventually be even more expensive.

Comparing The Costs Of America's Major Wars

Costs Of Major U.S. Wars Compared -- Secrecy News

More than a trillion dollars has been appropriated since September 11, 2001 for U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This makes the “war on terrorism” the most costly of any military engagement in U.S. history in absolute terms or, if correcting for inflation, the second most expensive U.S. military action after World War II.

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My Comment: The Congressional Research Service's full report is here.

The Cost Of War

Military Releases High Casualty Figures -- CBS News

The Department of Defense has released its latest American military casualty numbers for those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.

As of April 5, a total of 36,082 members of the U.S. military have been wounded in action and killed in Iraq, since the beginning of the war in March 2003, and in Afghanistan, where the war there began in October 2001. The 36,082 number breaks down to 4,492 deaths and 31,590 wounded. According to the same DoD "casualty" counts, an additional 38,631 U.S. military personnel have also been removed from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan for "non-hostile-related medical air transports."

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My Comment: Gateway Pundit provides a perspective to these figures. My own personal take .... when the Iraq war started pundits were talking about a Stalingrad at the Gates Of Baghdad that will result in 15,000 U.S. servicemen dead and untold thousands wounded. This fortunately never happened. But a long drawn affair that will result in the drip drip of American and Iraqi casualties for the next 5, 10, or 20 years is also in no one's interest.

Unfortunately, I can easily foresee a situation evolving in Iraq that will be similar to the long drawn affair of IRA terrorism and rebellion that lasted in Ireland for decades. At its peak the IRA had almost 300 men under arms .... but these 300 men were effective in holding down a good portion of the British Army for decades.

In Iraq, it is obvious that there are more than 300 men willing to fight against the Iraqi Government and coalition forces.