The war on terror in the Middle East will likely cost more than $6 trillion next year, and hit $7 trillion if conflicts continue into the early 2020s, according to a new report.
The annual Costs of War project report, from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, estimates the taxpayer burden of fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria over the last 17 years has been several times higher than official Defense Department figures, Military Times noted.
The military news outlet explained the report includes increases in Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs Spending as well as new military equipment and personnel.
“Because the nation has tended to focus its attention only on direct military spending, we have often discounted the larger budgetary costs of the post-9/11 wars, and therefore underestimated their greater budgetary and economic significance,” the report states, Military Times reported.
Direct military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan make up nearly $1.8 trillion in costs, but researchers estimate the long-term health care of veterans from those wars could equal or surpass that number in coming decades.
According to the report, the Defense Department’s base budget has grown more than $900 billion over the last 17 years because of increased missions, recruiting costs and service member benefits brought on by the conflicts overseas.
“High costs in war and war-related spending pose a national security concern because they are unsustainable,” study author Neta Crawford said, Military Times reported.
“The public would be better served by increased transparency and by the development of a comprehensive strategy to end the wars and deal with other urgent national security priorities.”
About 23,000 U.S. and NATO forces are currently operating in Afghanistan in a non-combat, training-and-support role. About 14,000 of that group are American troops, Military Times reported.
More than 4 million veterans in America today served during the Iraq and Afghanistan war era, the military news outlet reported.
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