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The cost of America’s 25-year War on Terror: Closing in on $10 trillion
The Center Square ^ | 08/22/2026 | Bethany Blankley

Posted on 08/22/2026 9:17:51 PM PDT by thegagline

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, the cost to taxpayers for the U.S. War on Terror is approaching $10 trillion.

Initial costs for two conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were more than $8 trillion. An additional $2 trillion will be incurred by U.S. military spending after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel and conflicts in Yemen and Iran.

Iraq and Afghanistan war costs: $8+ trillion

***

Afghanistan: $2 trillion

The [Biden] administration left $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment behind and turned control of the country back to the Taliban.

*** Cost on veterans: $2.5 trillion

The estimated cost of caring for post 9/11 veterans dealing with physical and mental issues is expected to reach $2.5 trillion by 2050***

Post Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks: more than $34 billion ***Within two years, the U.S. government has spent nearly $34 billion in the form of military aid to Israel and in military operations in Yemen, according to the Brown analysis.

Iran costs: $16 billion initial costs in first few days, $2 billion a day

In February, in the first few days of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, the Pentagon said munitions cost $11.3 billion. A Harvard analysis puts the total cost closer to $16 billion with the ongoing conflict costing Americans $2 billion a day. ***In June, OMB director Russell Vought requested another $87.6 billion from Congress to support the ongoing Iran conflict, including $17 billion for operational costs.***


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: bot; carter; debt; democrats; foreignadventurism; militaryindustrial; splcbot; tds

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A cheaper option might have been to launch a few tactical nukes right after 9/11 with the promise of for every person you kill of ours, we will kill 10,000 of yours. I know it sounds harsh, but some people only understand harsh consequences. The Nuclear Woodshed Diplomacy
1 posted on 08/22/2026 9:17:51 PM PDT by thegagline
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To: thegagline

On 9/12 I thought: “well, its obvious now the US Govt and people will have to simply ban travel and especially immigration, from Muslim countries. No Muslims, no security issues.”

Our government and its socialist/deep-state masters did the exact opposite.

So yes, we will remain in a permanent state of war with Islam.


2 posted on 08/22/2026 9:20:43 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: All

I can make up numbers too...44.6 trillion...


3 posted on 08/22/2026 9:42:03 PM PDT by DHerion
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To: PGR88

Problem reaction solution

We are told radical Islam is the problem

America goes to war against a belief

The Western nations decide to let in “moderate Muslims” which only consist of non-practicing Muslims, but we let them all in..... WELL, Because...


4 posted on 08/22/2026 9:45:36 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts
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To: Glad2bnuts
We are told radical Islam is the problem

It took us 25 years and the Islamic conquest of Britain to realize that Islam = Radical Islam.

5 posted on 08/22/2026 9:59:07 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: thegagline

“...launch a few tactical nukes right after 9/11 ...”
-
I thought the same thing.
When they thought Bin Laden might be hiding in a cave in Tora Bora...


6 posted on 08/22/2026 10:05:58 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th ( I am obsessed with not being obsessed with anything.)
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To: thegagline

What matters is the USA part.

Draw a line mentally between the tops of 2017 and 2001 light blue bars.

The amount above is largely the DoD marginal cost of intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without using a ruler, I eyeball the increased costs at about $2 trillion. I say largely because GWB Jr. also supported other military budget increases.

That $2 trillion excludes VA costs for disabled veterans and the loss of likely earned income.

What matters financially is the marginal cost of the war on terrorists.

Soldiers still draw pay and medical benefits while in the USA. They also build up retirement rights while in the USA.

Weapons depreciate because technology changes. B-36s and F-4s have been retired.

7 posted on 08/22/2026 10:08:52 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: thegagline

Deploying a well-placed nuke 25 years ago would have been much cheaper.


8 posted on 08/22/2026 10:22:03 PM PDT by cld51860 ("This business will get out of control...")
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To: thegagline

If the US did that it would 100% be terrorism.

However, it would work.

There is an old Travolta movie called ‘Swordfish’ that ends with a similar premise. Starts as an action/money heist movie starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, but the ending is a version of what you said. Bomb a school, we bomb ten of your schools. Take out a building, we take out a city block.

As an aside, that’s how wars used to be won (up and until WW2). Basically, by committing what would nowadays be considered war crimes. Think of the bombing of Dresden, Germany (over 25K dead); or the firebombing of Tokyo, Japan (over 100k dead). Wars were won by inflicting such huge costs that the will of the combatants/peolle/civilians/leadership was (literally) broken.

After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan had to yield. Not only did they not know how many more bombs the US had, but they had seen clearly that the US could hit them in unprecedented ways.

But since then, most wars are either of attrition, or of trying to win hearts and minds, or the nonsense Russia and Ukraine are doing where they are now bombing each others warehouses and malls (although that’s a good thing …at least we don’t have nukes taking out Odesa with a promise of Kyiv being next). But such warfare only results in years of slog and waste, and the two parties simply end up EXACTLY where they would have been years back: around a negotiating table agreeing on a difficult compromise. But now with hundreds of thousands of people dead on both sides, both their economies destroyed, and considering how bad the demographics are for both Russia and Ukraine, maybe even their futures being far worse than they already were.

Or considering the whole Afghanistan war …twenty years, only to leave the Talis in place (but now with better weapons and more money).

Only Israel knows how to do it well. They literally demolished a huge part of Gaza, and didn’t give a damn what anyone said about ‘genocide’ or such. They knew what they needed to do, and they did it.


9 posted on 08/22/2026 10:28:13 PM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: thegagline

Fool Around and Find Out !


10 posted on 08/22/2026 10:28:31 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th ( I am obsessed with not being obsessed with anything.)
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To: thegagline

Russia may have had no problem with us nuking the filthy savages. Likely they would have liked to do so.

The acceleration of the attacks are due to that wimp Carter letting the muzz take over Iran. Those goat humpers have been the nexus of terrorism since then

Hope Cart is tormented for his stupid treachery.


11 posted on 08/22/2026 10:35:29 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: spetznaz
Thank you for posting this. It was very thoughtful. As an aside, I will check out the movie Swordfish. One last thing:
”Only Israel knows how to do it well.

So true. Although, at times, such as Gaza, I wish they’d go further.

12 posted on 08/22/2026 10:36:12 PM PDT by thegagline (If you hate Christianity, Vote Talarico. Sic semper tyrannis! Zeldin for President )
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To: thegagline

The US relies on a strategy of spending a godawful amount of money to hold down casualties using advanced weapon systems. It works great from a casualty comparison standpoint. It works horribly from a strategic objectives standpoint.


13 posted on 08/22/2026 10:55:24 PM PDT by EnderWiggin1970
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To: thegagline

“The Biden Administration left $7 billion of U.S. military equipment behind” in Afghanistan....

The figure I always heard was $85 billion.


14 posted on 08/22/2026 11:20:42 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (Charlie Kirk's assassination / murder was our Fort Sumter moment. But only one side is fighting.)
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To: thegagline

Oh yeah? Well the interest on the national debt is over a trillion ever year now. What are we getting from that?


15 posted on 08/22/2026 11:35:44 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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To: thegagline

Bomb the world, invite the world.


16 posted on 08/22/2026 11:44:50 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: thegagline

43 years ago.

A look back at the deadly 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut

Remembering the bombing attack that killed more than 200 Marines. (The blast claimed the lives of 241 American service members.
https://abcnews.com/International/back-deadly-1983-marine-barracks-bombing-beirut/story?id=50663026


17 posted on 08/23/2026 12:06:09 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: thegagline

We should have stopped at the punitive expedition phase, we would have saved $trillions and many American lives and injuries.

Nation building was a fool’s errand. Yes, I’ll say it, Dubya was/is a fool, as were the idiots who talked him into it.

And his “peaceful, friendly religion” BS set us back 25 years in properly addressing Islam. We are just now seeing the beginnings of a rational conversation there.


18 posted on 08/23/2026 12:25:01 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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