Estimated War-Related Costs, Iraq and Afghanistan

According to the Center for Defense Information, the estimated cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan varies dramatically depending on what federal agency is doing the reporting. The Congressional Research Service (see their table below) concludes that the total cost of the wars thus far (through FY 2006) has been $436.8 billion, while the Congressional Budget Office puts it at $433 billion, the Government Accountability Office estimates $430.1 billion, and the Department of Defense lowballs it at $416.6 billion—a range of figures varying by more than $20 billion. One reason for such discrepancies is that most war-related costs are not included in the actual U.S. Defense Budget but are submitted over the course of the fiscal year in the form of “supplemental appropriations” and “bridge funds,” which, according to the Congressional Budget Office “do not provide enough detail to determine how…funds for operations in Iraq and the war on terrorism have been obligated.”