Afghanistan: The Cost of War!

The Taliban, in a shocking blitzkrieg, swept through Afghanistan in less than a month. The 300,000-man Afghan army melted away in their path. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled in disgrace.

 And what of the honor and property of the United States of America? Gone missing. Thousands of interpreters and their families await visas to the U.S., while Taliban fighters parade triumphantly in captured tanks and humvees paid for by the U.S.

In the 20 years since September 11, 2001, the United States has spent more than $2 trillion on the war in Afghanistan. That’s $300 million dollars per day, every day, for two decades. Or $50,000 for each of Afghanistan's 40 million people. In simple terms, Uncle Sam has spent more keeping the Taliban at bay than the net worths of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and the 30 richest billionaires in America, combined.

Those headline numbers include $800 billion in direct war-fighting costs and $85 billion to train the defeated Afghan army. U.S. taxpayers have been giving Afghan soldiers $750 million a year in payroll (some of whom are known as phantom fighters – only on paper but not real!). All told, Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimates the total spending at $2.26 trillion

And the costs are even greater in terms of lives lost:

• American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.

• U.S. contractors: 3,846.

• Afghan national military and police: 66,000.

• Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.

• Afghan civilians: 47,245.

• Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.

• Aid workers: 444.

• Journalists: 72.

Naturally, the United States has financed the Afghan war with borrowed money. Brown University researchers estimate that more than $500 billion in interest has already been paid (included in the $2.26 trillion total sum), and they figure that by 2050 the cost of interest alone on Afghan war debt could reach $6.5 trillion. That amounts to $20,000 for each and every U.S. citizen. 

America has not learnt its lessons on war – Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya – all have drained resources. Only the elite and vested interest gained. Meanwhile, the U.S. has homeless families, unemployment and poverty. America could have been a more prosperous nation if it avoided the wars by negotiating smart regime change.

References:

The War In Afghanistan Cost America $300 Million Per Day For 20 Years, With Big Bills Yet To Come, Christopher Helman, www.forbes.com

Costs of the Afghanistan War, in Lives and Dollars, Associated Press, August 17, 2021

How much did the Afghanistan war cost the US? Aisha Majid, www.newstatesman.com