Among the many questions surrounding the war with Iran is just how much this disastrous and destabilizing conflict is costing American taxpayers. The answer continues to be a moving target.
Last week, for example, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded the war has cost $38 billion so far, but almost immediately, it was clear that total was incomplete: The figure didn’t include, among other things, the costs associated with repairing U.S. military bases hit by Iranian strikes, the cost of replacing munitions stockpiles, the economic costs imposed on the American public or the interest on the national debt.
The CBO might’ve come up with a better number, but the office was hampered by the Defense Department’s refusal to provide the it with any information.
Last week, the Pentagon provided a new price estimate of its own. That might seem like an encouraging step, but on further inspection, it wasn’t much of a step at all. Roll Call reported:
The Iran war has cost $43.6 billion as of this month, the highest official estimate to date, the Pentagon told Congress’ defense oversight panels this week. […]
The Pentagon’s latest figure comprises $11.2 billion already obligated for operating expenses — for fuel, combat pay, aircraft, medical care, parts and the like — plus $32.4 billion in unfunded replacement costs for munitions, damaged aircraft and other assets, according to a Pentagon document submitted to Congress and viewed by CQ Roll Call.
The existence of such an estimate is encouraging, to be sure. As The New York Times noted, after more than six months of war, this is the first Defense Department summary that “offered an unclassified breakdown of costs incurred by each of the armed services, as well as for specific categories, like damaged or destroyed weaponry.”
But as the same Times report noted, the Pentagon’s tallies “are almost certainly on the low side,” with congressional officials noting that the estimate “did not include $1.5 billion for fuel and other costs that the Trump administration has asked for in a supplemental request to pay for the war.”
Just as important, if not more so, is the extensive damage to U.S. military facilities in several Middle East countries. Repairs are expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, none of which was accounted for in the latest Pentagon price tag.
The $43.6 billion figure, in other words, should be seen as a minimum. The overall price tag is likely considerably higher and is climbing on a daily basis.
Commenting on the latest Pentagon data, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a written statement, “The Trump administration has hidden the true cost of this war from day one. … The financial costs have continued to climb by billions each month, even as the administration refuses to acknowledge the munitions crisis we face or admit the costs to rebuild bases heavily damaged by Iran.”
The senator concluded, “Taxpayers deserve to know what this war costs. Congress cannot do its job when the Pentagon will not tell us the truth.”
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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