The cost of the Iran war to American taxpayers has grown to $47.1 billion, according to a new estimate the Pentagon has provided to Congress. The fallout from the conflict has become a key issue in the midterm elections and could increase as President Donald Trump leaves open the possibility of renewed hostilities.
The figure from U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, is as of Oct. 16 and offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched in late February by the United States and Israel. The latest price tag, obtained by The Associated Press this week, shows a $3.5 billion bump in U.S. spending since early September, when that figure stood at about $43.6 billion.
The growing cost of the unpopular war and its economic ripple effects on energy prices could hurt Republicans in next week’s midterm elections. Voters on Tuesday will decide which political party controls Congress during Trump’s last two years in office.
That’s just the DoD’s cost. That’s basically nothing as far as the cost of this war. That’s just one that is easy to count.
A: There’s some more “easy” to count ones. What about other federal agencies? State, CIA, FBI, etc.?
B: There are way more costs that are harder to count up using normal accounting methods but dwarf the DoD numbers: increased cost in goods/shipping, cost of alienating our allies and making them less likely to work with us in the future, the cost of radicalizing a new generation of Iranians against the US, the cost of radicalizing a new generation of other Middle Eastern citizens against the US, etc.