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  • America has spent $5.9 trillion on wars in the Middle East and Asia since 2001, a new study says

    America has spent $5.9 trillion on wars in the Middle East and Asia since 2001, a new study says

    Amanda Macias@amanda_m_macias

    Key Points
    • The U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan have cost American taxpayers $5.9 trillion since they began in 2001.
    • The figure reflects the cost across the U.S. federal government since the price of war is not borne by the Defense Department alone.
    • The report also finds that more than 480,000 people have died from the wars and more than 244,000 civilians have been killed as a result of fighting. Additionally, another 10 million people have been displaced due to violence.
    H/O: Marines dust Afghanistan
    U.S. Marines and Georgian Army soldiers run to the extraction point during Operation Northern Lion II in Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 3, 2013.
    U.S. Marine Corps photo

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. wars and military action in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan have cost American taxpayers $5.9 trillion since they began in 2001, according to a new study.

    That total is almost $2 trillion more than all federal government spending during the recently completed 2017-18 fiscal year.

    The report, from Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, also finds that more than 480,000 people have died as a direct result of fighting. Over 244,000 civilians have been killed. Another 10 million people have been displaced due to violence.

    The $5.9 trillion figure reflects the cost across the U.S. federal government since the price of war is not borne by the Defense Department alone, according to Neta Crawford, the study’s author.

    In addition to the money spent by the Pentagon, Crawford says the report captures the “war-related spending by the Department of State, past and obligated spending for war veterans’ care, interest on the debt incurred to pay for the wars, and the prevention of and response to terrorism by the Department of Homeland Security.”

    It breaks down like this, according to Crawford and the report:

    • Total U.S. war-related spending through fiscal year 2019 is $4.9 trillion.
    • The other $1 trillion reflects estimates for the cost of health care for post-9/11 veterans.
    • The Department of Veterans Affairs will be responsible for serving more than 4.3 million veterans by 2039.

    What’s more, longer wars will also increase the number of service members who will ultimately claim veterans benefits and disability payments.

    The U.S. government spent $4.1 trillion during fiscal year 2018, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department.

    The Defense Department accounted for 14.7 percent of that, and the Department of Veterans Affairs accounted for 4.4 percent.

    Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the cost has been $5.9 trillion, according to the study.

  • Navy to Commission Aircraft Carrier George H.W. Bush

    Navy to Commission Aircraft Carrier George H.W. Bush

    No. ….
    December 30, 2008
    From: DoD News <dodnews@subscriptions.dod.mil>


    The Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush will be commissioned Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
    President George W. Bush will deliver the principal address. Dorothy “Doro” Bush Koch, daughter of the ship’s namesake, is the ship’s sponsor. In the time-honored Navy tradition, she will give the order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”
    The lastNimitz-class aircraft carrier is named to honor World War II naval aviator and America’s 41st president George H. W. Bush. Born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Mass., Bush began a lifetime of service to America when he joined the Navy on his 18th birthday as a seaman.  He became the youngest pilot in the Navy at the time, receiving his commission and naval aviator wings before his 19th birthday.
    Bush flew the Avenger torpedo bomber in combat from the carrier USS San Jacinto.  During an attack on enemy installations near Chichi Jima in September 1944, his plane was hit by enemy fire while making a bombing run.  Although the plane was on fire and heavily damaged, he completed a strafing run on the target before bailing out of the doomed aircraft.  Bush parachuted into the sea and was later rescued by the Navy submarine USS Finback.  He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his Navy service in the Pacific theater during World War II.
    After his time in the Navy ended in September 1945, Bush held a number of public service roles that included two terms as a U.S. congressman from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to China and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  He then served two terms as vice president under the late President Ronald Reagan before being elected himself as President of the United States in 1988.   As commander-in-chief, Bush led the United States and a coalition of nearly 30 other nations during Operation Desert Storm, which ended Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and liberated the people of the Persian Gulf nation.
    Capt. Kevin O’Flaherty, from Los Angeles, Calif., and a 1981 Naval Academy graduate, will become the ship’s first commanding officer, leading a crew of more than 5,500 men and women, including embarked air wing personnel. George H. W. Bush will be initially homeported in Norfolk, Va., assigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
    Construction of the tenth Nimitz-class ship took place at Northrop Grumman-Newport News, Va., starting with the ship’s keel laying Sept. 6, 2003, and christening Oct. 7, 2006. George H. W. Bush towers 20 stories above the waterline, displaces approximately 95,000 tons of water, has a flight deck width of 252 feet, and at 1,092 feet long, is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. This floating airfield has a flight deck that covers 4.5 acres. Bush’s two nuclear reactors are capable of more than 20 years of continuous service without refueling, providing virtually unlimited range and endurance, and a top speed in excess of 30 knots.
    The ship will support a wide variety of aircraft, including the F/A-18C Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters, the E-2C/D Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft, the C-2 Greyhound logistics aircraft, the EA-6B Prowler and the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, multi-role SH-60 and MH-60 helicopters, and other future carrier-based aircraft.
    Interested media may contact the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342. Additional information on Nimitz-class carriers is also available online at
    .

    U.S. Department of Defense

    GovDelivery, Inc. sending on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense · 380 Jackson Street, Suite 550 · St. Paul, MN 55101 · 1-800-439-1420

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