A fresh analysis by the Congressional Research Service provides a bounty of sliced and diced data for journalists writing about the war on terror and how much the federal government has spent in the past decade on its military efforts.
“The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11” (document embedded below) details the $1.3 trillion spent through this year. This will hit $1.4 trillion if the 2012 budget requests are approved. The current “burn rate,” as they say in business: $6.7 billion a month, just in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense has spent 94% of the money, the report says.
The largest share of spending has been in Iraq (66%) followed by Afghanistan (35%) and for enhanced base security (2%). CRS couldn’t account for about $5 billion.
The report isn’t just a dry recitation of numbers; it offers insights and analysis over time by theater and type of spending; dissection of cost trends for Afghan and Iraq security forces; raises red flags about modeling and presumptions for projected costs this year and next; and raises a series of questions it says Congress might want to consider about funding issues (questions that journalists might want to explore, as well). It also has recommendations on how agencies can improve transparency in spending, estimating and reporting.
It covers spending for “military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)”
Some examples of the data: The first chart below is one I created based on the report. The second is a chart directly from the report.
Congressional Research Service
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Download the report (PDF)
