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Costs of War in the News
Selected articles—
 
40

“When President Barack Obama cited cost as a reason to bring troops home from Afghanistan, he referred to a $1 trillion price tag for America's wars. Staggering as it is, that figure grossly underestimates the total cost of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the U.S. Treasury and ignores more imposing costs yet to come, according to a study released on Wednesday.” (full story) – By Daniel Trotta, Reuters (6/29/11)

Reuters' extensive coverage of the findings was also carried by CBS News and Yahoo News, among many other news outlets worldwide.

64

“The U.S. government says precious little about these new ways of fighting enemies. But the strategic volte-face is clear: America has decided that conventional wars of uncertain outcome in Iraq and Afghanistan that may, according to a Brown University study, end up costing at least $3.7 trillion are a bad way to fight terrorists and that far cheaper, more precise tools for eliminating enemies are preferable — even if the legality of those killings is debatable.” (full story) -By Roger Cohen (11/28/11)

“Air Force officials calculate that it costs $5 billion to operate the service’s global airborne surveillance network, and that sum is growing. The Pentagon has asked for another $5 billion next year alone for remotely piloted drone systems. Yet even those costs are tiny compared with the price of the big wars.” (full story) –By Scott Shane and Tom Shanker (10/1/11)

“Al Qaeda spent roughly half a million dollars to destroy the World Trade Center and cripple the Pentagon. What has been the cost to the United States?” (full story) – By Shan Carter and Amanda Cox (9/8/11)

“Ms. Bilmes … has estimated that the total cost of health care and disability compensation to veterans of the current wars will be nearly $1 trillion over the next 40 years.” (full story) – By James Dao (7/27/11)

The New York Times’ coverage of the findings was also carried by The Nation, The San Francisco Chronicle, the News & Observer, and the International Herald Tribune, among many other outlets worldwide.

113

 

“When you add in future costs, such as ongoing debt service and healthcare costs for injured veterans, that figure will more than double, even if calculated very conservatively, according to political science professor Neta Crawford, coauthor of the "Costs of War" report from the Eisenhower Study Group at Brown University.” (full story) –Editorial (12/16/11)

63

“America has precious little to show for this sacrifice apart from the disruption of al-Qaeda.” (full story) – editorial in the Economist. (9/3/11)

59 “In human terms, 224,000 to 258,000 people have died directly from warfare, including 125,000 civilians in Iraq.  Many more have died indirectly, from the loss of clean drinking water, healthcare, and nutrition.  An additional 365,000 have been wounded and 7.8 million people—equal to the combined population of Connecticut and Kentucky – have been displaced.”  (full story) – By Reuters (6/29/11)

78 “More than $800 billion dollars in Pentagon direct spending has gone towards the war in Iraq. … That’s a far cry from the Bush administration’s early estimate of between $50 and $60 billion dollars.” (news video) (9/9/11)

“One could talk about over-reaction to 9.11. But I think we also have to talk about what the Iraq War was all about. We know that it had nothing to do with 9.11 – that 9.11 was the pretext for that invasion. So all of the lost lives and dollars for Iraq were not even intended as remedy. But we have to ask ourselves: how did that happen, and how does it continue to happen?” (radio program) (9/10/11)

99 “Brown University's Costs of War project estimates that the United States has spent between $3.2 trillion and $4 trillion on the ‘war on terror’…We cannot afford, literally, to focus exclusively on foreign affairs alone, as if the choices we make in relations to other nations don't have an impact on our ‘domestic affairs’ or our economy. “ (full story) –By Juliette Kayyem (11/22/11)

 

100 “One could talk about over-reaction to 9.11. But I think we also have to talk about what the Iraq War was all about. We know that it had nothing to do with 9.11 – that 9.11 was the pretext for that invasion. So all of the lost lives and dollars for Iraq were not even intended as remedy. But we have to ask ourselves: how did that happen, and how does it continue to happen?” (radio program) (9/10/11)

 

79 “More than 2.2 million