A new report published by the Federation of American Scientists suggests that the U.S. has spent $250 million per day on defence for the past 16 years.
According to the newly published “Cost of War” report, U.S. taxpayers have shelled out $1.46 trillion for war since the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror.
The report covers the period of 11 September 2001 to June 2017.
As the report notes, nearly $1.3 trillion was spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone.
In addition to this, ongoing operations in Afghanistan and the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria has totalled $120 billion.
A 2011 paper from Harvard Kennedy School Professor Linda Bilmes estimated the cost of veterans’ benefits as $600 billion to $1 trillion over the next 40 years.
That number was based on 482,364 veterans who were receiving compensation for disability connected to service as of February 2011.
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According to the Congressional Research Service, the only war in U.S. history to cost more than the War on Terror is World War II, at more than $4.1 trillion in present dollars.
Direct war-related expenses from the Vietnam War cost $738 billion in today’s dollars.
The U.S. intelligence apparatus also operates under a $52.6 billion annual operating budget, which includes 16 agencies, with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) soaking up the lion’s share of $14.7 billion, according to leaks that were revealed by Edward Snowden.
The CIA spent $1 billion alone annually training and arming military opposition factions in Syria.
