About These Counters

Introduction
On December 15, 2011 Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta presided over the “U.S. Forces in Iraq End of Mission Ceremony” in Baghdad, signaling the final withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

Yet the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq does not mean the end of U.S. presence in that country, nor the end of U.S. funding for Iraq operations. The Fiscal Year 2012 budget includes over $115 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan funded through the Defense Department, including roughly $9 billion for Iraq. Likewise, the FY2012 budget includes billions of additional dollars for Iraq and Afghanistan funded through the Department of State.

The U.S. taxpayer will continue to provide funding for Iraq for years into the future. The Defense Department will continue to provide weapons and training to Iraqi security forces. The Pentagon will likely invest billions of dollars to repair and replace weapons and supplies depleted by operations in Iraq. The Department of State will play an increasing role in Iraq, taking on some of the functions – such as physical security for U.S. government personnel and oversight of U.S. contracts – formerly performed by the Defense Department.

NPP will continue to analyze funding for Iraq and Afghanistan – and the counters will keep rolling – for as long as U.S. taxpayers are asked to support the direct and indirect costs of these wars.

All Counters
The numbers include all of the funding that has been requested by the President and appropriated by Congress for the wars through the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2012. These numbers reflect the allocation of $121.1 billion in December 2011 as part of the Fiscal Year 2012 Final Consolidated Appropriations Act, which included the FY2012 Defense Department funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other war-related funding included in other FY2012 appropriations – Homeland Security, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and the Department of State and Foreign Operations budgets.


Cost of War in Iraq since 2003
To date, $807.4 billion dollars has been allocated for the war in Iraq since 2003.


Cost of War in Afghanistan since 2001
To date, $570.9 billion dollars has been allocated for the war in Afghanistan since 2001.


All told, $1.38 trillion dollars has been allocated to date to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.