WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- The war on terror has cost $510 billion since 2001, according to a new report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
Most of the congressionally appropriated funds, roughly $378 billion, has been spent in Iraq over the last four years. The war in Afghanistan has cost $99 billion. Operation Noble Eagle -- the increase in military operations protecting U.S. territory and other operations -- has cost $28 billion.
But the numbers are already on the rise: U.S. President George W. Bush has requested an additional $94.4 billion for 2007 and $141 billion for 2008 in supplemental war funding. Added together that would bring the cost of the wars to $752 billion through mid-2008.
The monthly "burn rate" of funds in Afghanistan has stayed roughly the same for the last five years, about $1 billion a month. The burn rate in Iraq, however, has risen from $4.4 billion to $7.4 billion a month.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if the war goes on for another 10 years, a possibility floated by the Pentagon and based on historical data of how long counter-insurgencies take to win, it would cost an additional $410 billion if troop levels drop to 30,000. If the war lasts for 10 years with troop levels dropping to 70,000 by 2013, it will cost an additional $919 billion. That would bring the total war costs to $980 billion to $1.4 trillion.
Ninety percent of the costs of the war have been paid for by emergency supplemental appropriations which are not subject to spending caps for deficit control. However, they add to the total national debt.
