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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
National Priorities Project
Contact:

Jo Comerford, Executive Director
413-584-9556 (o); 413-559-1649 (cell)

Another $77.1 Billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

NPP Releases Local Cost of War Breakdowns and Launches Cost of Afghanistan War

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.

As Congress considers President Obama's $83.4 billion supplemental
request for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2009, $77.1 billion of which
is dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan war funding, National Priorities
Project offers a state-level tradeoff and breakdowns of U.S. war spending costs by state, congressional district, county and town. NPP's trade-offs page
offers similar breakdowns for approved totals to date and the pending
supplemental, showing what the equivalent sums could buy in healthcare,
education and renewable energy services.

Of the $77.1 billion war spending request, roughly $52.7 billion is
dedicated to the Iraq War, while $24.4 will fund the expanded U.S. war
in Afghanistan. The total cost for both wars, including approved
spending and the pending supplemental is $907.3 billion.

The cost to Alabama for the additional pending war funding would be
$705 million while the cost to California would be $9.8 billion. In
comparison, without including the pending supplemental, California has
spent $105 billion in aggregate war costs since 2001.

"In a departure from previous years, NPP is releasing total war
spending for both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and launching a cost of
war counter for Afghanistan," notes Jo Comerford, Executive Director of
National Priorities Project. "While we applaud Defense Department
efforts to cut waste and unnecessary weapons systems, we are mindful
that the current efforts facilitate a shift of funds within the U.S.
military budget rather than amounting to a substantial budget decrease."

In addition to the Afghanistan cost of war counter, NPP is
co-releasing, with the American Friends Service Committee, a primer on
the human and economic cost of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The four
page publication is due out later this week. Comerford continues,
"21,000 additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan represent a 55% increase
in combat personnel from current levels. NPP's tools will help people
across our nation understand the war's escalating financial impact at
home."

The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a 501(c)(3) research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels. For more information, go to https://nationalpriorities.org.