Afghan war costs now top Iraq

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-05-12-afghan_N.htm

 

Afghan war costs now top Iraq

 

Updated 1h 16m ago

 

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

 

WASHINGTON — The monthly cost of the war in  

Afghanistan, driven by troop increases and fighting

on difficult terrain, has topped Iraq costs for the

first time since 2003 and shows no sign of letting up.

 

Pentagon spending in February, the most recent

month available, was $6.7 billion in Afghanistan

compared with $5.5 billion in Iraq. As recently as

fiscal year 2008, Iraq was three times as expensive;

in 2009, it was twice as costly.

 

The shift is occurring because the Pentagon is

adding troops in Afghanistan and withdrawing them

from Iraq. And it's happening as the cumulative cost

of the two wars surpasses $1 trillion, including

spending for veterans and foreign aid. Those costs

could put increased pressure on President Obama

and Congress, given the nation's $12.9 trillion debt.

 

"The overall costs are a function, in part, of the

number of troops," says Linda Bilmes, an expert on

wartime spending at Harvard University. "The costs

are also a result of the intensity of operations, and

the number of different places that we have our

troops deployed."

 

President Obama made clear Wednesday that the U.S. role in

Afghanistan would remain long after troops are

withdrawn, a process planned to begin in July 2011.

 

"We are not suddenly, as of July 2011, finished with

Afghanistan," he said during a news conference with

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai."This is a long-

term partnership."

 

Continued American support will be crucial as U.S.

troop levels and costs in Afghanistan escalate:

 

• The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has

risen to 87,000, on top of 47,000 troops from 44

other countries. At the same time, the number of U.S. t

roops in Iraq has dropped to 94,000. By next year,

Afghanistan is scheduled to have 102,000 U.S.

troops, Iraq only 43,000.

 

• Afghanistan will cost nearly $105 billion in the

2010 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, including most

of $33 billion in additional spending requested by

Obama and pending before Congress. Iraq will cost

about $66 billion. In fiscal 2011, Afghanistan is

projected to cost $117 billion, Iraq $46 billion. To

date, Pentagon spending in Iraq has reached $620

billion, compared with $190 billion in Afghanistan.

 

• Costs per troop in Afghanistan have been roughly

double what they are in Iraq since 2005. That was

due to lower troop levels, Afghanistan's landlocked

location, lack of infrastructure, high cost of fuel and

less reliable security. "The cost just cascades," says

Todd Harrison, of the Center for Strategic and

Budgetary Assessments. "That's always been an

issue in Afghanistan."

 

"Iraq, logistically, is much easier," says Lawrence

Korb, of the Center for American Progress. "You get

the stuff to Kuwait and just drive it up the road."

 

Copyright 2010 USA TODAY

 

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