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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 25 2016, @10:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the aggression-is-expensive dept.

The Intercept reports:

The total U.S. budgetary cost of war since 2001 is $4.79 trillion, according to a report [PDF] [...] from Brown University's Watson Institute. That's the highest estimate yet.

Neta Crawford of Boston University, the author of the report, included interest on borrowing, future veterans needs, and the cost of homeland security in her calculations.

The amount of $4.79 trillion, "so large as to be almost incomprehensible", she writes, adds up like this:

  • The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and other overseas operations already cost $1.7 trillion between 2001 and August 2016 with $103 billion more requested for 2017
  • Homeland Security terrorism prevention costs from 2001 to 2016 were $548 billion.
  • The estimated DOD base budget was $733 billion and veterans spending was $213 billion.
  • Interest incurred on borrowing for wars was $453 billion.
  • Estimated future costs for veterans' medical needs until the year 2053 is $1 trillion.
  • And the amounts the DOD, State Department, and Homeland Security have requested for 2017 ($103 billion).

Crawford carried out a similar study[PDF] in June 2014 that estimated the cost of war at $4.4 trillion.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @11:52AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @11:52AM (#418485)

    The amount of $4.79 trillion, "so large as to be almost incomprehensible"

    A quarter of US debt is incomprehensible?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @12:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @12:40PM (#418503)

    Most folk's biggest expense is housing.
    Take your monthly payment and spend that amount every second that passes.
    How long till you get to $4.79 trillion?

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @02:41PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 25 2016, @02:41PM (#418567)

      uh. 303 years for $ 500/month, but that's excluding interest payments on the debt.
      With a 3 % interest rate, it would be 2.3 million years to pay back the 4.79 trillion + 37146.45 trillion interest.

      Maybe I made a miscalculation. Or, maybe, that debt is just going to be paid back in Zimbabwe dollars.