The cost of war

The United States has spent $1.6 trillion on post-9/11 military operations, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, weapons procurement and maintenance, and base support, according to a report issued earlier this month by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

According to International Business Times, "the $1.6 trillion estimate, which comes to $14 million per hour since 9/11...is up roughly half a trillion dollars from its 2010 estimate, which found that the post-9/11 military operations are second only to World War II in terms of financial cost." That's more money than the U.S. spent on the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 all rolled into one.

Of the $1.6 trillion total, CRS specialist Amy Belasco estimates that the funding breaks down as such:

$686 billion (43%) for Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan);

$815 billion (51%) for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (Iraq);

$27 billion (2%) for Operation Noble Eagle (providing enhanced security at military bases and military operations related to homeland security);

$81 billion (5%) for war-designated funding not considered directly related to the Afghanistan or Iraq wars.

The report states that about 92 percent of the funds went to the Department of Defense, with the remainder split between the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies.

Another estimate puts the cost for  U.S. wars since 9/11 far higher. A report by Neta Crawford, a political science professor at Boston University, estimated the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—as well as post-2001 assistance to Pakistan—to be roughly $4.4 trillion.

The CRS estimate is lower because it does not include additional costs including the lifetime price of health care for disabled veterans and interest on the national debt. American University professor of international relations and military history Gordon Adams argues that the costs of war are much higher than any report could show.

"All of these figures do not take into account the long-term consequences, in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder or long-term veterans' bills," he said. "The costs go on. Iraq and Afghanistan will end up being the gift that keeps on giving because—as we did with Vietnam—we will be living with the consequences for many, many years."

Capitalism likes to be a price on everything but what socialists never forget is the human cost of war – the deaths, the injuries, the suffering and the destruction that people endure when politicians and businessmen decide that they can afford to go to war and profit from war..