Analysts Expect Long-Term, Costly U.S. Campaign in Afghanistan ($228 billion and counting)

[Karmadillo]

Sure that's a lot of money with billions more to come, but at least that's money we won't be able to waste on health care, education, the environment, and other touchy-feely loser stuff.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802283_pf.html

As the Obama administration expands U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, military experts are warning that the United States is taking on security and political commitments that will last at least a decade and a cost that will probably eclipse that of the Iraq war.

Since the invasion of Afghanistan eight years ago, the United States has spent $223 billion on war-related funding for that country, according to the Congressional Research Service. Aid expenditures, excluding the cost of combat operations, have grown exponentially, from $982 million in 2003 to $9.3 billion last year.

The costs are almost certain to keep growing. The Obama administration is in the process of overhauling the U.S. approach to Afghanistan, putting its focus on long-term security, economic sustainability and development. That approach is also likely to require deployment of more American military personnel, at the very least to train additional Afghan security forces.

Later this month, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is expected to present his analysis of the situation in the country. The analysis could prompt an increase in U.S. troop levels to help implement President Obama's new strategy.

Military experts insist that the additional resources are necessary. But many, including some advising McChrystal, say they fear the public has not been made aware of the significant commitments that come with Washington's new policies.

"We will need a large combat presence for many years to come, and we will probably need a large financial commitment longer than that," said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the "strategic assessment" team advising McChrystal. The expansion of the Afghan security force that the general will recommend to secure the country "will inevitably cost much more than any imaginable Afghan government is going to be able to afford on its own," Biddle added.

more...

[enlightenment]

1. My, my.

The war hawks must be creaming their britches . . . and the Russians are rolling on the floor laughing.

[msongs]

2. Obama's war squanders America's wealth. just like the brits n russians before him nt

[Karmadillo]

3. I put $228 billion in the subject line, but it's really only $223 billion. That frees up an extra

$5 billion we can give to Wall Street.