What Price War? Try $2.4T

Figure much higher than previous estimates for Iraq, Afghanistan
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2007 4:16 PM CDT
What Price War? Try $2.4T
U.S solders disembark from a Chinook helicopter during a visit to the Panjshir province, some 100 kilometers north of Kabul, 02 October 2007, as troops operating under NATO take Afghan media to show them reconstruction projects carried out by Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). (AFP PHOTO/SHAH Marai)   (Getty Images)

Americans will have to pony up $8,000 apiece to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars through the next decade—a total that could top $2.4 trillion—according to a projection by the Congressional Budget Office released today. The figure dwarfs previous CBO estimates because it factors in $705 billion in interest on the loaned funds, USA Today reports.

"The number is so big, it boggles the mind," said a Democratic rep. While the White House declined to provide its own estimate, the CBO projections assume 75,000 troops will remain in both countries through 2017, with 50,000 in Iraq. As of Sept. 30, the wars have required $604 billion, with Iraq accounting for 80% of that cost. (More Congressional Budget Office stories.)

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