Notes and Sources: Cost of War Counter

In 2009, as the new administration begins withdrawing troops from Iraq while at the same time deploying more than 21,000 new troops to Afghanistan, National Priorities Project is changing its Cost of War counter. Rather than featuring only the cost of war in Iraq, we now feature the total cost of war since 2001, as well as individual counters for the costs of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

To date, the total cost of war that has been allocated by Congress is $830.2 billion, with $657.3 to Iraq and $172.9 to Afghanistan. In addition, on April 9, 2009, the new administration requested, in a final emergency supplemental, an additional $77.1 billion in war spending. Our estimates are that approximately $52.7 billion of that will be for Iraq and the remaining $24.4 billion for Afghanistan. As more information becomes available, we will revisit our estimates.

The numbers include military and non-military spending, such as reconstruction. Spending only includes incremental costs - additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included, but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. It is also not clear whether the current funding will cover all military wear and tear. It also does not account for the wars being deficit-financed and that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to those deficits.

This number is based on an analysis of the legislation in which Congress has allocated money for war so far and research by the Congressional Research Service (latest report) which has access to Department of Defense financial reports. An article offered by the Strauss Military Reform Project of the Center for Defense Information offers greater insight into the problems of truly knowing how much has been spent on the Iraq War or other military operations. Other NPP information on the cost of the wars includes the Local Costs of the War which includes the total cost allocated to date for numerous towns and counties across the country. This list is also more regularly updated with new locations than the list of the Cost of War calculator. See also the NPP Charts page which offers comparative cost and casualty information on wars

Funding for the wars has been initiated by the Bush Administration in supplementals (with one exception). The Obama Administration offers the last war funding supplemental with their request in April 2009. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2010, war funding will be included in the normal budget process.

• FY2003 Supplemental: Operation Iraqi Freedom), made in March 2003, was for $74.8 billion. Passed within a month of the request, the final allocation amounted to $78.5 billion, at least $54.4 billion of which was for the war in Iraq.

• FY2004 Supplemental: Iraq and Afghanistan Ongoing Operations/Reconstruction, for $87 billion, was submitted in September 2003 and passed Congress in November 2003. The final allocation amounted to $87.5 billion, of which $70.6 billion was for Iraq.

• Budget Amendment: $25 Emergency Reserve Fund (Department of Defense - Iraq Freedom Fund) was made in May 2004 and was passed by Congress as part of the Department of Defense appropriations bill in July 2004. Based on Iraq War spending, of the $25 billion appropriated, about $21.5 billion was for the war in Iraq.

• Estimate #1 - Emergency Supplemental (various agencies): Ongoing Military Operations in the War on Terror; Reconstruction Activities in Afghanistan; Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction; and Other Purposes - 2/14/05 was made in February 2005 and passed by Congress in April 2005. The final allocation amounted to $82 billion, of which about $58 billion was for the Iraq War.

• Department of Defense appropriations for fiscal year 2006 (i.e. war funding not initiated by a supplemental request) included $50 billion in a 'bridge fund' for war funding. Based on past Iraq War spending, approximately $40 billion of that can be counted for the Iraq War.

• Estimate #3—FY 2006 Emergency Supplemental (various agencies): Ongoing Military, Diplomatic, and Intelligence Operations in the Global War on Terror; Stabilization and Counter-Insurgency Activities in Iraq and Afghanistan; and Other Humanitarian Assistance—2/16/06 was for $72.4 billion, of which about $60 billion war for the Iraq War.

• Defense appropriations for FY2007 includes $70 billion in war-related spending, most of which we estimated would be for the Iraq War, based on past spending patterns.

• The administration requested nearly $100 billion in supplemental funding for fiscal year 2007, most of which we estimated would be for the Iraq War, based on past spending patterns.

• Estimate #5—FY 2008 Emergency Budget Amendments: Department of Defense (Global War on Terror—Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles)—7/31/07 and Estimate #6—FY 2008 Emergency Budget Amendments: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Selected Other International Activities—10/22/07 for fiscal year 2008, which included $153.5 billion for Iraq and $34.0 billion for Operation Enduring Freedom which includes Afghanistan and other Global War on Terror operations.

• Estimate #2—FY 2009 Emergency Budget Amendments: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Selected Other International Activities—5/2/08 for the beginning of fiscal year 2009, which included $54.1 billion for Iraq and $13.1 billion for Operation Enduring Freedom which includes Afghanistan and other Global War on Terror operations.

• Estimate #1—FY 2009 Emergency Supplemental (various agencies): Appropriations Request that will Fund Our Ongoing Military, Diplomatic, and Intelligence Operations—04/09/2009 f represents the last supplemental for the wars and includes funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2009. Our analyses indicate that a total of $79 billion will fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Please note that the Department of Defense was also permitted by legislation to transfer funds from other operations (peacetime, Afghanistan, etc.) to the Iraq War, and so estimating war costs based on Congressional legislation is not enough.

State and City Calculations

We calculated each state's share of taxes paid into federal funds revenues (based on IRS data). This includes individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, excise, gift and estate taxes. Each state's share of taxes was then multiplied by the total amount of the war.

The city and county calculations are based on the population and median household income of the city relative to the state.