The True Cost of War

How many years has the US been engaged in war in Afghanistan?

a) ten years
b) twelve years
c) sixteen years

If you guessed c) you're correct.

The war in Afghanistan stands as the longest war the US has ever been engaged in.

How much money has the US spent in that war?

a) $500 billion
b) $1.7 trillion
c) $300 billion

If you guessed b) you're correct.

How about the war in Iraq? As you may recall the US entered that war shortly after 9/11 and stayed until 2011.

How much money did the Iraq war cost us?

a) $1.06 trillion
b) $867 billion
c) $467 billion

If you guessed a) you're correct.

Taken together, these two wars cost the US over $2.7 trillion dollars.

President Trump's proposed 2019 budget asks for $686 billion for the Department of Defense. That's more than the next ten largest spenders combined. Including China ($216B) and Russia ($84.5B).

The fact is, it takes a lot of money to wage a war.

But that's just one aspect of the cost. How about deaths?

During Operation Enduring Freedom, from Oct. 2001 to Dec. 2014, a total of 2,216 US soldiers died. Another 20,092 were injured around/in Afghanistan.

During Operation Iraqui Freedom, from Mar. 2003 through Aug. 2010, some 3,224 US soldiers died. Another 31, 957 were injured. That's over 5,400 soldiers dead and 50,000 injured.

These figures don't include civilian casualties.

According to Iraqi Body Count there have been between 180,000 and 202,000 documented civilian deaths.

The Washington Post has reported that there have been over 26,000 civilian deaths in Afghanistan since the US began war there.

That's a total of over 200,000 civilian deaths.

But there's other costs as well.

Money spent on war doesn't get spent on education.

Money spent on war doesn't get spent on health care.

Money spent on war doesn't get spent on social services.

According to the US Census there are over 327 million people living in the US.

If the $2.7 trillion spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had been given to people living in the US, each person would have received $8,256. That's about $33,000 for a family of four!

There are almost 51 million K-12 public school students in the US. That same $2.7 trillion spent two wars would result in over $52,000 per child! Just think of what that kind of money could do to enhance our public education system! With that kind of funding the US could easily lead the world in per capita education spending. And public school teachers wouldn't have to continue to purchase essential supplies - like books, paper and pencils - out of their own pockets.

(On an international scale, the cost of US war activities is even greater. Nicholas Kristoff writes: "The US has invested enormously in the military toolbox to reshape the world, but it has systematically underinvested in the education toolbox. The tradeoffs are substantial: For the cost of deploying one US soldier abroad for a year we can start at least 20 schools.")

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, heart disease is the top cause of death in the US, followed closely by cancer. Together these two diseases result in over 1.2 million deaths a year. The National Cancer Institute has a budget of around $8.6B. In FY 2017 the budget for heart disease research was around $1.3B. Just think of the amount of groundbreaking research that could have been funded and cures found with just a portion of the $2.7 trillion spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

How about infrastructure?

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates $4.6 trillion is needed to fix our nation's bridges roads, airports and water and sewer systems. Think about how much smoother and safer your car commute would be if a portion of the funds used on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had been made available? Not to mention increased productivity tied to improved road transportation. Along with improved water safety (Flint isn't the only city with significant challenges to its water supply).

The true answer to the cost of war isn't easy to assess. And especially in light of the two most current wars the US has engaged in (Afghanistan and Iraq) the results are far from worth it. Neither country is politically stable or safe, and in fact, a case could be made that, politically, the US intervention, especially in Iraq, has only served to eviscerate the country. *

It's clearly eye-opening to view our country's defense expenditures in light of other social problems that would be readily fixable with additional resources.

As the saying goes: Fear is expensive.

In the meanwhile, consider contacting your elected congressional representatives to ask them why we're involved in wars that have not received congressional authorization. Track them on their voting records for funding of social service programs and humanitarian relief. Ask them to explain to you the benefits of military authorizations to the countries where we are supporting war efforts. Additionally, here are a wide variety of international organizations that are currently providing humanitarian relief in Syria, Iraq and advocating for relief in Yemen. A simple Google search will call up their information so you can check them out and donate.

Photo Credit: top KatinaSilver on DeviantArt

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* The same holds true in the countries of Syria and Yemen which are both facing humanitarian crises. In Yemen US armaments are being used, purchased from Saudi Arabia. In Syria US troops remain on the ground, despite no authorization from Congress. What are the results of US intervention? According to Mercy Corps, 6.1 million Syrians are living displaced within Syria, while 5.6 million have fled the country. At this point, 63 percent of Syrian's entire population are refugees - either within their country or outside of it. For all practical purposes, for these 11.7 million people, the country of Syria doesn't exist.