Money Down the Drain: CRS Report Details U.S. Expenses on Iraq
After referring to Iraq as one of America’s costliest wars, observers of the decade-plus long engagement can now put some hard numbers on their critiques. The Congressional Research Service recently released the most detailed and accurate numbers yet on total U.S. spending in Iraq. The report came just weeks before Islamic State of Iraq and ...
After referring to Iraq as one of America's costliest wars, observers of the decade-plus long engagement can now put some hard numbers on their critiques. The Congressional Research Service recently released the most detailed and accurate numbers yet on total U.S. spending in Iraq. The report came just weeks before Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham captured Mosul and other key cities. President Obama said on Friday that he will not deploy ground troops in Iraq but the data likely provides war critics fresh ammunition to question what the spending accomplished.
The report puts total projected U.S. spending in Iraq from 2003 to 2014 at $57,184,400,000. Here's a year-by-year breakdown:
After referring to Iraq as one of America’s costliest wars, observers of the decade-plus long engagement can now put some hard numbers on their critiques. The Congressional Research Service recently released the most detailed and accurate numbers yet on total U.S. spending in Iraq. The report came just weeks before Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham captured Mosul and other key cities. President Obama said on Friday that he will not deploy ground troops in Iraq but the data likely provides war critics fresh ammunition to question what the spending accomplished.
The report puts total projected U.S. spending in Iraq from 2003 to 2014 at $57,184,400,000. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown:
The Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund and the Pentagon each received more than $20 to bolster the Iraqi Army and Iraqi security forces. Here’s the agency breakdown of total spending:
Obama essentially acknowledged on Friday that the money was not well spent. Iraq’s security forces "have proven unable to defend a number of cities, which has allowed the terrorists to overrun a part of Iraq’s territory, and this poses a danger to Iraq and its people," he said. According to some reports, Iraq’s 800,000-strong security force put up little fight against ISIS. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of U.S. spending on those forces:
More from Foreign Policy
Xi’s Great Leap Backward
Beijing is running out of recipes for its looming jobs crisis—and reviving Mao-era policies.
Companies Are Fleeing China for Friendlier Shores
“Friendshoring” is the new trend as geopolitics bites.
Why Superpower Crises Are a Good Thing
A new era of tensions will focus minds and break logjams, as Cold War history shows.
The Mediterranean as We Know It Is Vanishing
From Saint-Tropez to Amalfi, the region’s most attractive tourist destinations are also its most vulnerable.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today from Foreign Policy’s newsletter writer Colm Quinn.
By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy.
