Since 9/11, Iraq War Costs Have Outpaced Fighting Terrorism 3 to 1

Since 9/11, Iraq War Costs Have Outpaced Fighting Terrorism 3 to 1 Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The U.S. government has not put its money where its mouth is when it comes to fighting terrorism, at least not when compared to what’s been spent on the war in Iraq. According to an analysis by the Congressional Research Service, the United States spent $217 billion from 2001 to early 2009 on Operation Enduring Freedom—launched to root out al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan—and Operation Noble Eagle, which began just after the Sept. 11 attacks to secure the nation from future acts of terrorism. This amount is dwarfed by the $642 billion that has been allocated since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which was initiated to get rid of Saddam Hussein, that is, after the war stopped being about the elimination of weapons of mass destruction that never existed.

In terms of percentages, spending on Iraq has consumed 74% of the $864 billion appropriated by Congress from FY 2001 to the first part of FY2009. Expenditures on the war in Afghanistan account for 20%, and Operation Noble Eagle only 3%.

The Congressional Research Service estimates that if Congress approves the FY 2010 war request, funding since 9/11 for Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror will break the $1 trillion mark.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11 (by Amy Belasco, Congressional Research Service) (PDF) SOURCE