Report Discloses US War on Iran Has Already Cost $85bln
US spending on the military operation against Iran has exceeded $85bln over 79 days of the war, the Iran War Cost Tracker portal reported.
The portal’s real-time tracker is based on a Pentagon briefing for the US Congress on March 10, during which officials claimed that Washington had spent $11.3bln during the first six days of military operations in West Asia and planned to continue spending an additional $1bln for each subsequent day of the war.According to the resource, the total amount spent is nearly three times higher than the estimate previously cited by acting US Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management Jules Hurst. During hearings before the House Appropriations Committee, he stated that Washington had spent around $29bln on the military operation against Iran.
While the Pentagon claims the cost of the US war on Iran has reached $29 billion, one war budgeting expert disclosing that the conflict will ultimately cost American taxpayers at least $1 trillion, CNN has reported.According to one war budgeting expert, the war on Iran which began in late February will ultimately cost US taxpayers at least $1 trillion.Linda Bilmes, a public policy expert at the Harvard Kennedy School, projects that the conflict between the US and Iran will cost American taxpayers at least $1 trillion.In an online post in April, she wrote, “Wars always cost more than expected. Throughout history, those who get into wars tend to be optimistic about the cost and about the length of time it will take.”“For example, Russia thought it could take control of Ukraine in a few weeks. President George W. Bush fired his economic advisor, Larry Lindsey, for predicting that the Iraq War might cost $200 billion (it ended up costing $5 trillion),” she added.In the post, Bilmes breaks it down into short-term and medium to long-term costs. Short-term costs include munitions (missiles, bombs, interceptors), maintenance of 2–3 carrier strike groups, maintenance of personnel and combat pay, and lost or destroyed assets such as fighter jets and drones.
She points out that replacement costs are often higher than the historical value of inventory. For example, a Tomahawk missile may be valued at $2 million in inventory, but replacing one today costs up to $3.5 million.Medium to long-term costs of the war include repairing facilities over the next 4–5 years, restocking inventory with higher-tech weapons systems, and veterans’ care for 55,000 US soldiers in the region who may be exposed to hazards.On top of it all, there’s the impact of rising energy prices on the global economy from the ongoing conflict. The US Department of Energy now cautions oil prices will likely stay above $100 a barrel in the coming weeks.Some analysts warn the national average for gas at the pump will eventually hit $5 a gallon.
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