Counterterrorism Spending Tops $2.8 Trillion Since 9/11.

The U.S. government has spent more than $2.8 trillion on counterterrorism efforts since the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a recent study group.

The findings were included in a new Stimson Center report, "Counterterrorism Spending: Protecting America While Promoting Efficiencies and Accountability," which looked at CT-related investments across federal agencies from fiscal years 2002 to 2017. The study is the first of its kind.

"CT spending has become a substantial component of total discretionary spending for programs across a wide range of areas, including defense, education and medical research," the report said.

The study group looked at expenditures for government-wide homeland security efforts, international programs and military campaigns in the Middle East and elsewhere. It calculated that annual counterterrorism spending peaked at $260 billion in 2008 at the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2017, as war funding decreased, expenditures dipped to $175 billion, which was still an 11-fold increase from the 2001 level, the report noted.

"Despite this drop, the study group found no indication that CT spending is likely to continue to decline," it said.

However, that remains to be seen as the Defense Department pivots to preparing for potential fights with advanced adversaries such as China and Russia. The unclassified summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy declared that great power rivalry, not counterterrorism, is now the primary...

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