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The
Financial Legacy of Iraq and Afghanistan: How Wartime Spending Decisions Will
Constrain Future National Security Budgets
Bilmes,
Linda J. "The Financial Legacy of Iraq and Afghanistan: How Wartime Spending
Decisions Will Constrain Future National Security Budgets." HKS Faculty Research
Working Paper Series RWP13-006, March 2013.
Abstract
The
Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, taken together, will be the most expensive wars
in US history – totaling somewhere between $4 to $6 trillion. This includes
long-term medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans
and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs. The largest
portion of that bill is yet to be paid.
Since
2001, the US has expanded the quality, quantity, availability and eligibility of
benefits for military personnel and veterans. This has led to unprecedented
growth in the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense
budgets. These benefits will increase further over the next 40 years. Additional
funds are committed to replacing large quantities of basic equipment used in the
wars and to support ongoing diplomatic presence and military assistance in the
Iraq and Afghanistan region. The large sums borrowed to finance operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan will also impose substantial long-term debt servicing
costs. As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States
will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy,
research and development and new military initiatives. The legacy of decisions
taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets
for decades to come.
Attachment
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Page 4
Finally, the decision to finance
the war operations entirely through borrowing has already added some $2 trillion
to the national debt, contributing about 20% of the total national debt added
between 2001 and 20129. This level of debt is thus one of the reasons the
country faces calls for austerity and budget cuts, which has already had an
impact on the military budget through the across-the-board cuts (the
“sequester”) that were allowed to take effect in 2013. The US has already paid
$260 billion in interest on the war debt. This does not include the interest
payable in the future, which will reach into the trillions10 .
This paper will focus on the
costs of commitments we have made in four important areas during the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars:
I. Veterans health care and
disability compensation
II. Pentagon personnel and health
care policies and benefits
III. Other Department of Defense
costs and commitments
IV. Financing of the wars
The data presented here updates
previous
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"Keep on, Keepin' on" "Colonel Dan"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL, Col, USA, Ret,
Life member: Am Legion, DAV, AMVETS, MOAA, NGAUS, IL SAL, NGAIL,
NAUS, IL State Director USDR
See my web site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/
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