“The United States has spent EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS fighting and policing in the Middle East.”
And six trillion dollars might have been spent if they hadn’t gone in.
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One hundred thousand soldiers at @$250,000/year each is $25 billion/year.
If 5,000 are so wounded as to be permanently disabled, the cost per man might be $3 million. That’s $15 billion.
That excludes ammunition expenditure, aircraft maintenance, fuel, warship docking fees, etc.
Be aware that weapons except small arms tend to become worthless from time alone.
You overlooked the biggest line item on the cost side of the ledger for these stupid military misadventures: building infrastructure and maintaining a permanent presence in Middle East sh!t-holes. This is why a company like Kellogg, Brown & Root made more money out of the Iraq debacle than even the arms manufacturers did.