The U.S. government has spent over $5 trillion on wars since September 11, 2001; more than three times what the Pentagon estimates. According to the Department of Defense's recent report, the U.S. spent $1.46 trillion in the past 16 years in its effort to establish 'peace' in the Middle East and neighbouring countries.
But a study conducted by Dr. Neta Crawford, professor of political science at Brown University, found that the Pentagon did not include the expense of veterans’ benefits for troops [projected to be somewhere between $600 billion and $1 trillion], “non-DoD classified programs” [such as those conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency], and war zones where the U.S. military has been actively engaged in recent years [such as Libya and Somalia].
Therefore, the real financial cost of the war on terror is, in reality, much higher. To put it simply, it puts the total cost at $5.6 billion, or $23,000 per American taxpayer. The Pentagon’s initial estimate put the taxpayer cost at $7,740 per person.
Crawford told the Wall Street Journal:
“War costs are more than what we spend in any one year on what’s called the pointy end of the spear. There are all these other costs behind the spear, and there are consequences of using it, that we need to include.”
Crawford's study not only talks about the money used by the Pentagon, it also accuses the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security of using the taxpayers money to fight the so-called war on terror.
The complete cost includes the monetary support for allies who are fighting against terrorist groups in many parts of the world, such as Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Jordan, Poland & Romania. It, however, does not consider U.S. military assistance outside of these countries against ISIS, such as Tunisia, the Philippines or Egypt.
“Reimbursing partner nation efforts is critical to enabling forces from eligible foreign countries to remain in theatre and support the United States military operations. Without financial support, many of these nations would not be able to participate in the US military operations.”
The United States Army has spent 16 years in Afghanistan, a war that is set to continue with Donald Trump announcing an expansion of military presence there to battle the Taliban and ISIS.
Commenting on the report, Senator Jack Reed said:
“I think it is very important because it describes and quantifies the costs beyond just the narrow bounds of the Department of Defense. Even if we stopped [the wars] today, we would add $7.9 trillion to the national debt.”