Conclusion: Pre-‐‑War Optimism about Costs and the $4.79 Trillion-‐‑Plus Reality
By my conservative estimate, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost and will cost more than $4.79 trillion, including future veterans’ care and the President's request for FY2017 Overseas Contingency Operations, but not including all future interest on debt associated with the wars. This will likely be many trillions of dollars. And as explained earlier, this paper’s estimate does not include all the costs of the war for which it is difficult to come to a reasonable estimate or which are smaller and scattered in various federal and state budgets. For example, as noted above, I have not included the various costs of veterans’ care that have fallen to state and local governments or other costs externalized to military families and Americans more generally. Nor have I estimated the macro-‐‑economic consequences of the wars.