Other costs of war.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: After the fighting ends - Brief article

WHAT HAVE the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost taxpayers? Tallying up what we've spent so far gives an incomplete picture, according to a new study for the National Bureau of Economic Research by Queens College economist Ryan D. Edwards.

As of now, direct military costs--the price of keeping troops and equipment in the field--total about $800 billion for the two wars. A more expansive estimate, from the Columbia economist Joseph Stiglitz and the Harvard public finance specialist Linda Bilmes, includes the present costs to all adversely affected by the wars in the future, not just direct government military expenditures. It comes to around $3 trillion.

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As Edwards notes, the wars' costs will continue rising no matter what happens. "Even if the war in Iraq and Afghanistan were to end tomorrow, capping direct military costs immediately," he explains, "cumulative war costs would continue to rise over time" when payments for long-term disability, health care, and other veteran benefits kick in.

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