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The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the United States about 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars, a report released on Tuesday estimates.
The figure, for the period from 2002 to 2008, translates into a cost of 20,900 dollars for a family of four, says the report by the U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee.
According to the report, the total economic costs brought by the Iraq war only were estimated at 1.3 trillion dollars during the period, meaning 16,500 dollars for a family of four.
From 2003 to 2017, both wars are estimated to cost 3.5 trillion dollars. Under that scenario, it would cost a family of four 46,400 dollars.
The White House has requested from Congress 804 billion dollars for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. But in an attempt to calculate the total price the United States has paid for the two wars, the report also takes into consideration "hidden" costs such as interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars, lost investment, the expense of long-term health care for injured veterans and the cost of oil market disruptions.
"What this report makes crystal clear is that the cost to our country in lives lost and dollars spent is tragically unacceptable," said Joint Economic Committee Chairman and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer in a statement.
The House of Representatives prepares to vote later this week on another bill in which congressional Democrats attempted to set a deadline for troop withdrawal from Iraq as a condition for providing another 50 billion dollars for the war.聽聽
Editor: Donald
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