The cost of war is indeed frightening giving that these money could be spent on the developments within USA.
I underlined the important numbers from this Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War
Financial cost of the Iraq War 1
Financial cost of the Iraq War
The following is a partial accounting of financial costs of the 2003 Iraq War by the United States and the United
Kingdom, the two largest non-Iraqi participants of the multinational force in Iraq.
U.S. war costs
Direct costs
A Marine Corps M1 Abrams tank patrols a Baghdad street after its fall in 2003
during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The costs of the 2003-2010 Iraq War are
often contested, as academics and critics
have unearthed many hidden costs not
represented in official estimates. The most
recent major report on these costs come
from Brown University in the form of the
Costs of War project, which said the total
for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
is at least $3.2-4 trillion. The report
disavowed previous estimates of the Iraq
War's cost as being under $1 trillion, saying
the Department of Defense's direct spending
on Iraq totaled at least $757.8 billion, but
also highlighting the complementary costs at
home, such as interest paid on the funds
borrowed to finance the wars and a potential nearly $1 trillion in extra spending to care for veterans returning from
combat through 2050. An update in 2013 topped this at US$6 trillion.[1]
Those figures are dramatically higher than typical estimates published just prior to the start of the Iraq War, many of
which were based on a shorter term of involvement. For example, in a March 16, 2003 Meet the Press interview of
Vice President Dick Cheney, held less than a week before the Iraq War began, host Tim Russert reported that "every
analysis said this war itself would cost about $80 billion, recovery of Baghdad, perhaps of Iraq, about $10 billion per
year. We should expect as American citizens that this would cost at least $100 billion for a two-year involvement."[2]
Appropriations
See also: Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund
• FY2003 Supplemental: Operation Iraqi Freedom: Passed April 2003; Total $78.5 billion, $54.4 billion Iraq War
• FY2004 Supplemental: Iraq and Afghanistan Ongoing Operations/Reconstruction: Passed November 2003; Total
$87.5 billion, $70.6 billion Iraq War
• FY2004 DoD Budget Amendment: $25 billion Emergency Reserve Fund (Iraq Freedom Fund): Passed July 2004,
Total $25 billion, $21.5 billion (estimated) Iraq War
• FY2005 Emergency Supplemental: Operations in the War on Terror; Activities in Afghanistan; Tsunami Relief:
Passed April 2005, Total $82 billion, $58 billion (estimated) Iraq War
• FY2006 Department of Defense appropriations: Total $50 billion, $40 billion (estimated) Iraq War.
• FY2006 Emergency Supplemental: Operations Global War on Terror; Activities in Iraq & Afghanistan: Passed
February 2006, Total $72.4 billion, $60 billion (estimated) Iraq War
• FY2007 Department of Defense appropriations: $70 billion(estimated) for Iraq War-related costs[3]
• FY2007 Emergency Supplemental (proposed) $100 billion
Financial cost of the Iraq War 2
• FY2008 Bush administration has proposed around $190 billion for the Iraq War and Afghanistan[4]
• FY2009 Obama administration has proposed around $130 billion in additional funding for the Iraq War and
Afghanistan.
• FY2010 Obama administration proposes around $159.3 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
It is unclear why no breakdowns are offered on the basis of each war
Indirect and delayed costs
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because
combat is being financed with borrowed money. The CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for
the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq, or $6,300 per U.S. citizen.
Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Linda
Bilmes of Harvard University, have stated the total costs of the Iraq War on the US economy will be three trillion
dollars in a moderate scenario, described in their book The Three Trillion Dollar War and possibly more in the most
recent published study, published in March 2008.[5] Stiglitz has stated: "The figure we arrive at is more than $3
trillion. Our calculations are based on conservative assumptions...Needless to say, this number represents the cost
only to the United States. It does not reflect the enormous cost to the rest of the world, or to Iraq."
A 2013 updated study pointed out that U.S. medical and disability claims for veterans after a decade of war had risen
to $134.7 billion from $33 billion two years earlier.
The extended combat and equipment loss have placed a severe financial strain on the U.S Army, causing the
elimination of non-essential expenses such as travel and civilian hiring.
The UH-60 Black Hawk that crashed on September 21, 2004.
Military equipment lost
The U.S. has lost a number of pieces of military
equipment during the war. The following statistics are
from the Center for American Progress; and they are
only approximations that also include vehicles lost in
non-combat-related accidents as of 2009.
Land equipment
• 80 M1 Abrams tanks
• 55 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles
• 20 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles
• 20 M113 armored personnel carriers
• 250 Humvees
• 500+ Mine clearing vehicles, heavy/medium trucks, and trailers
• 10 Assault Amphibious Vehicles
Financial cost of the Iraq War 3
Air equipment
Main article: List of aviation accidents and incidents during the Iraq War
• 109 Helicopters
• 18 Fixed-Wing Aircraft
In June 2006, the Army said that the cost of replacing its depleted equipment tripled from that of 2005. As of
December 2006, according to government data reported by the Washington Post, the military stated that nearly 40%
of the army’s total equipment has been to Iraq, with an estimated yearly refurbishment cost of $US 17 billion. The
military states that the yearly refurbishment cost has increased by a factor of ten compared to that of the pre-war
state. As of December 2006 approximately 500 M1 tanks, 700 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 1000 Humvees are
awaiting repair in US military depots.[6]
U.K. war costs
As of March 2006, approximately £4.5 billion had been spent by the United Kingdom in Iraq. All of this money has
come from a government fund called the "Special Reserve" which has a current allocation of £7.4 billion.
As of 2013, UK Afghanistan war alone cost have been calculated as £37bn. In June 2010, UK costs exceeded £20bn
for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
References
[1] Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion: study (http:/ / www. reuters. com/ article/ 2013/ 03/ 14/
us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314), Daniel Trotta, Reuters, 14 March 2013, accessed 18 March 2013
[2] Transcript of a March 16, 2003 interview with Vice-President Dick Cheney by NBC's Meet the Press (http:/ / www. mtholyoke. edu/ acad/
intrel/ bush/ cheneymeetthepress. htm), from the website for the International Relations Program at Mount Holyoke College
[3] National Priorities Project | Bringing the Federal Budget Home (http:/ / costofwar. com/ numbers. html) from the Cost of War website
[4] Increase In War Funding Sought (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2007/ 09/ 26/ AR2007092600732.
html?hpid=topnews) from The Washington Post
[5] The three trillion dollar war (http:/ / www. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ comment/ columnists/ guest_contributors/ article3419840. ece) from The
Times of London
[6] "U.S. Army Battling To Save Equipment" (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2006/ 12/ 04/ AR2006120401347.
html). Tyson, Ann Scott. Washington Post December 5, 2006
= new reply since forum marked as read
