Afghan intervention cost $557 billion to US

[HRK]

Through the end of FY2012, the United States has provided nearly $83 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, of which about $51 billion has been to equip and train Afghan forces. During FY 2001-FY 2012, the Afghan intervention has cost about $557 billion, including all costs. About $9.7 billion in economic aid and $82 billion in additional U.S. military costs are requested for FY 2013. As announced in the context of the July 8, 2012, Tokyo donors’ conference, Administration economic aid requests for Afghanistan are likely to continue at current levels through at least FY 2017.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30588.pdf


Extract from: Congressional Research Service Report for Congress April 9, 2013

 

[Jungibaaz]

 

[Sam1980]

It's worth every penny! Radicalism must be stopped.

Hopefully with expansion of U.S. drone fleet, costs will be reduced.
@gambit If I may ask (I want your opinion), do you really think that U.S. must have soldiers on Afghanistan soil in order to eradicate Taliban?

 

[The Vicious Kind]

It's worth every penny! Radicalism must be stopped.

Hopefully with expansion of U.S. drone fleet, costs will be reduced.
@gambit If I may ask (I want your opinion), do you really think that U.S. must have soldiers on Afghanistan soil in order to eradicate Taliban?

Why would the U.S want to eradicated taliban .They have fought their longest war already.This war will join the list of other misadventures .After all the taliban are gonna run eastern pushtun majority areas once the peace deals have ended.Taliban wont mind a few U.S bases and they ill be jumping with joy when the U.S launches deep strikes into iran through bagram airbase

 

[HRK]

It's worth every penny! Radicalism must be stopped.

Hopefully with expansion of U.S. drone fleet, costs will be reduced.
@gambit If I may ask (I want your opinion), do you really think that U.S. must have soldiers on Afghanistan soil in order to eradicate Taliban?

May I know your definition of Radicalism........???

 

[HRK]

look up "wahabism," "al quida," "suicide bombing," "taliban"...

alternatively you can look in the mirror

My dear stupidity is something which is abundant at least in this part of the world and you are proving the same.

Just start trolling without even knowing the subject…….I don't want to involve in any sectarian discussion with some stupid who have nothing more important in his life to do except killing his time by such ****** attitude……


You insane people fail to realize that theses “wahabism," "al quida," "suicide bombing," & "taliban” are not only radicalism for US……for them Hezbollah…..Iran…..Pasdaran-e-Inqilab are also radicalism……

Dear If you have nothing constructive to contribute in this thread do not quote or mention me

 

[gambit]

It's worth every penny! Radicalism must be stopped.

Hopefully with expansion of U.S. drone fleet, costs will be reduced.
@gambit If I may ask (I want your opinion), do you really think that U.S. must have soldiers on Afghanistan soil in order to eradicate Taliban?

We cannot eradicate the Taliban. It is a religious belief system that can be readily evoked in enough Afghanis that there is no way we can eradicate the Taliban unless we commit genocide. That said...What we can do is to teach whoever that remain a Taliban or joins the ranks that if they want to wage war against US, we will fight and we will win every battle. If enough Afghanis wants to remain backward, we will let them, but if they want to take up arms against US, they will pay far much more in blood than we will.

 

[That Guy]

We cannot eradicate the Taliban. It is a religious belief system that can be readily evoked in enough Afghanis that there is no way we can eradicate the Taliban unless we commit genocide. That said...What we can do is to teach whoever that remain a Taliban or joins the ranks that if they want to wage war against US, we will fight and we will win every battle. If enough Afghanis wants to remain backward, we will let them, but if they want to take up arms against US, they will pay far much more in blood than we will.

Well, to be fair, the Taliban have never wanted to actually go to war with the US. They actually tried to avoid it at all cost because they knew that they would lose all the gains they made against the Northern Alliance (pre 9/11), so I don't think that the Taliban wanting to go to war with the US is going to be a problem.

Another point I'd like to mention is that winning battles doesn't equal to winning wars. If it did, then the US would have declared victory in Afghanistan.

 

[Pandora]

What a gigantic waste of time and money.

 

[Gold1010]

I wonder what our costs were.

 

[OrionHunter]

$557 billion? That's it? Small change compared to the trillions unaccounted for from the US treasury!!!

The Pentagon's own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld had admitted.

$2.3 trillion!!!! That's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America!!!!

 

[HRK]

$557 billion? That's it? Small change compared to the trillions unaccounted for from the US treasury!!!

The Pentagon's own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld had admitted.

$2.3 trillion!!!! That's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America!!!!

you mean to say they are running black economy under the umbrella of Pentagon.......

it is huge % .........of unaccounted expenditures......but are you sure all that expenditures are related to WOT expenses......because the official figure is $1.114 trillion till 2011

 

[TruthSeeker]

Thank God the red Chinese loaned us the money for this project.

 

[HRK]

.......................

@HRK
Anyone who is in favor of blowing people up with an explosive belt and have a long beard

plz include anyone "who by any mean for any reason kill innocent people" is also radical in its nature........

 

[gambit]

Well, to be fair, the Taliban have never wanted to actually go to war with the US. They actually tried to avoid it at all cost because they knew that they would lose all the gains they made against the Northern Alliance (pre 9/11), so I don't think that the Taliban wanting to go to war with the US is going to be a problem.

Before 9/11, we tried negotiations with the Taliban about Osama bin Laden. Many people do not know this but it is true and that fact is not secret. We even tried to send a secure satellite phone to Mullah Omar and to tell him that we would speak to no one else but it would be a direct line from the satellite phone straight to The White House.

Like what the BBC did...

AlQaeda5.htm

November 15, 2001,
BBC interviewed Mullah Omar by telephone:

"The BBC's Pashto service has interviewed Taleban
leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The BBC asked the questions through a Taleban
intermediary over satellite phone. He passed them on
to the Taleban leader through a hand-held radio and
then attached the phone's receiver to the radio for
Mullah Omar's answers.

The following is the transcript of the interview

What do you think of the current situation in
Afghanistan?

You (the BBC) and American puppet radios have
created concern. But the current situation in
Afghanistan is related to a bigger cause - that is the
destruction of America.

Look at the date: Nov 15, 2001. If Omar was willing to talk to the BBC, we hoped that we could and we tried BEFORE Nov 15, 2001. So do not think for a moment that the US went into Afghanistan on a whim.

Another point I'd like to mention is that winning battles doesn't equal to winning wars. If it did, then the US would have declared victory in Afghanistan.

It depends on the parameters and the goals you set for the war. If all we wanted as to oust the Taliban from power and leave the country for the Northern Alliance to do whatever they want, we could have set those parameters and goal and declared victory. But we took on the long term goal and tried to raise a primitive people at least into the 19th century after we defeated the Taliban. We failed and I have no problems saying that. You can only work so much with a people determined to be primitive and I say that without being insulting.