MoveOn: Cost of staying in Iraq through 2009: $485 billion

Christian Avard
Published: Wednesday August 30, 2006

A new report released today by members of MoveOn.org indicates that the United States has spent more than $300 billion on the war in Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.

RAW STORY has obtained a copy of “The Cost of Iraq,” which analyzes the cost of Iraq War; where we are, what lies ahead, and how the cost is distributed by Congressional district.

Before the war started, Bush Administration officials reportedly assured members of Congress that the war would only last 6 weeks, and that Iraqi oil revenues would finance the costs.

A look at the report’s numbers tells a different story.

The report claims that:

· With the passage of the FY 2006 supplemental appropriations bill, Congress has so far appropriated about $319 billion for the war in Iraq.

· A Congressional Budget Office analysis concluded that since 2003, $291 billion has been spent on the war.

· The Iraqi operation has already cost far more than the 1991 Persian Gulf War- which cost about $89 billion in FY 2007 dollars, and it is now possible that the United States will ultimately spend more on U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan than it did on the Korean War.

The report also foresees some alarming scenarios:

· An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office predicted that if the United States keeps forces in Iraq through the end of 2009, an additional $166 billion in Department of Defense funding would be necessary over the FY 2007-16 period. The CBO also predicted that if the United States reduces its deployed forces in Iraq to 40,000 after 2010 and keeps it at that level through 2016, an additional $368 billion in Department of Defense funding would be necessary over the FY 2007-16 period. President Bush has indicated that the US will likely stay in Iraq through the remainder of his term.

· It is estimated that between 18 and 28 billion in additional funding will be needed to complete all or most of the objectives for reconstruction identified after the invasion. Even assuming that this gap could be covered by drawing equally upon U.S., international and Iraqi resources, an additional $5-10 billion in U.S. reconstruction assistance would still need to be provided.

· According to a 2005 report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), a survey of about 100 reconstruction projects indicated that actual costs have typically exceeded initial estimates by some 20-85 percent. SIGIR data also suggested that at least $60 billion would be needed to complete the reconstruction projects outlined in 2003. And in 2006, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction warned that the United States faces a “reconstruction gap… the difference between what was originally planned for reconstruction in the various sectors and what actually will be delivered.”

The report also details waste in what it characterizes as empty promises relating to reconstruction efforts, billions of dollars to contractors who have not been held accountable for the spending, and reportedly billions of taxpayer dollars that have simply vanished.

The “Cost of Iraq” places a special emphasis on what MoveOn members perceive to be misplaced priorities. With numbers provided by the National Priorities Project (NPP) the money spent on Iraq could have funded social programs, homeland security, or better care for our returning veterans.

In addition, the report also presented a detailed chart on the cost of the war by Congressional district, indicating "tradeoffs" to represent each congressional district’s share of the cost that could have been used to fund other priorities.

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