Although fighting currently continues in Iraq, there is increasing debate over how to end the conflict together with demands from political factions in the United States and Great Britain to Phase the war out and allow the troops to return to civilian life. It is getting more difficult to justify the costs of continued hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Just what are the cost totals? Current figures are ever changing, and of course since the conflicts are ongoing, there are no totals. However, as of January 2005, it was estimated that $166 billion had been allocated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by the United States alone, yet it was immediately deemed estimated that this was at least 4 billion too low. The military identified specific unmet needs for funding of equipment and weapons for the troops in Iraq. The U.S. Army made just under $6 billion in requests in addition to the defense budget for 2005. These requests included expenditures for equipment and supplies for vehicle armour ($132 million), for helmets, underwear, boots and other clothing (187 million), and for automatic weapons ($21.5 million).
Since this budget was approved and enlarged upon, the estimated monthly costs given by the Pentagon have been at the 700 million dollar mark. Currently the Pentagon estimates are that monthly bills for the war in Iraq are about $4.7 billion and for the war in Afghanistan one billion, which means $75 billion per year. This figure doesn’t include the billions in additional funding that will be needed for the pledged reconstruction efforts in the two countries, which the Pentagon estimated at $500 million per six month period.
By any calculation, this conflict is the costliest in history. During the course of the Vietnam War, which was fought for eight years, 11.1 billion dollars were spent, adjusted to the current dollar values. The amount spent in Vietnam was not a drop in the bucket of the current conflicts’ budget.
Other government estimates from the Bush administration conclude that the Pentagon actually is spending a bit less, and the real costs are nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, which makes the yearly costs nearly $60 billion. These estimates also are exclusive of the expenses that are associated with rebuilding Iraq’s electric resources, water supply and other infrastructure elements, such as roads. One of the reasons cited for the high cost of these current wars is the different nature of the troops. Previous wars were primarily fought by draftees, who were paid minimal salaries. Today’s troops are volunteers who are paid higher wages; there are better trained and given better equipment, all of which is expensive.
It is interesting to note that none of the cost estimates attempts to approximate the anticipated costs for medical treatment for the troops after they return home, including counselling for reintegration into American life or for job retraining. The price tag for funding these wars also omits the cost of spousal and orphan support for the families of the deceased troops.
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