Afghan war cost over $2tn and 240_000 lives: says report

When you add up the cost of Defense and State Department funds sunk into Operations Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support_ then throw in the cost of caring for the conflicts veterans and the interest on the money borrowed to cover it all_ you re looking at over $2 trillion_ according to a report released Friday.

The Costs of War Project detailed its most recent estimates_ finding that most of the money came out of $933 billion in Departmen of Defennce (DoD) overseas contingency funding. The rest includes: $443 billion in DoD base budget increases to support the war; $296 billion to care for veterans; $59 billion in State overseas contingency funds; and $530 to cover the interest on the money borrowed to fund 20 years of deployments.

Those funds do not_ however_ include the amount the US government is obligated to spend on lifetime care for American veterans of this war_ nor does it include future interest payments on money borrowed to fund the war.

 The DoD spending_ at over $900 billion in Afghanistan_ is the tip of the iceberg_ Neta Crawford_ the project s lead researcher_ said in the release.  The costs of the Afghanistan war include its escalation into Pakistan_ millions of refugees and displaced persons_ the toll in lives of combatants and non-combatants_ and the need to care for America s veterans.

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the US would begin drawing down its remaining 2_500 troops from Afghanistan on May 1_ with a Sept. 11 deadline for full withdrawal.

The Costs of War Project also estimates that about 240_000 people have died because of the war in Afghanistan_ which includes more than 2_400 American service members and least 71_344 civilians; 78_314 Afghan military and police; and 84_191 opposition fighters. These figures do not include deaths caused by disease_ loss of access to food_ water_ infrastructure_ and/or other indirect consequences of the war.

The data is compiled from DoD reporting and budgeting documents starting in 2001.

 We report these estimates so that the American people will have a better understanding of the scale of the effort and its consequences_ she added.  The American people also lost some transparency here. A more comprehensive accounting is yet to be completed. It would include not just money that may or may not have been well spent_ but the count of those wounded_ those who lost limbs_ and the tremendous psychological toll of decades of war on combatants and noncombatants and their families.