Cost of Afghan War

Cost of Afghan War. Mark Thompson @MarkThompson_Dc has penned an article entitled "The True Cost of the Afghan War May Surprise You", Time.com, January 1, 2015. Thompson says there are different ways to calculate the cost of wars. For instance, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has cost us $1.6 trillion. He says a truer measure of the wars' total cost could come in at between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. A large part of his argument pins on the cost of long-term expenditures such as medical care for the injured, disability payments for the injured and wounded veterans, retirement payments and health insurance for the increased size of the military, social and economic costs, and costs of military equipment that may not have been bought (MRAPs, drones, etc.) if the wars were not fought.

$41 Million Spent by Canada on Security Contractors and Warlords

Canadian officials are digging into the records to research how much money went to security contractors (and warlords) in Afghanistan.  Read more in "Defence department hunts for record of payments to Kandahar warlord", The Star, February 7, 2011.

The Cost of Afghan War to Rise

With the news that 2011 is the "start" of the troop withdrawal instead of when the bulk of the troops would start leaving folks have been looking at what this date slip to 2014 will mean for our pocketbook.  About another $125 Billion is what some estimates are.  Read more in "New Afghan war plans could cost US taxpayers an extra $125 billion", The Christian Science Monitor, November 19, 2010.