How much will the War on Terror cost?

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Congress has approved $691 billion to pay for the 'War on Terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan. This week, the Bush administration will tug at Congress' purse strings for a final time: it will request another $70 billion as part of its 2009 budget request.

The new request is likely to set up another battle with Democrats who control Congress and are hypercritical of Bush's handling of the Iraq war. Congress has yet to approve most of Bush's fiscal 2008 war funding request, which amounted to $196.4 billion.

Projected Costs of War on Terrorism (2008 - 2017)
	No. of troops reduced to 30,000 by 2010	No. of troops reduced to 75,000 by 2013
Source: Congressional Budget Office
Military Operations	485	966
Indigenous Security Forces	50	50
Diplomatic Operations and Foreign Aid	26	26
Veterans' Benefits and Services	9	13
Total ($ Billions)	570	1055

Spending provisions are likely to be inadequate, in the face of increased demands in both theatres. The recent increase in violence in Afghanistan, coupled with delayed requests for additional troops and Pentagon lobbying for NATO assistance, suggest that the campaign there urgently requires more military resources. US officials have suggested that securing, stabilising and reconstructing Afghanistan will consume at least a decade and require continuing international assistance.

Yet Iraq, where the 'surge' in Iraq is competing for the limited available personnel, has received about three-quarters of the War on Terror money since 2001, while Afghanistan has taken about a fifth. The administration's fiscal year 2008 budget requests continue to reflect this disparity.

Soon this will all be somebody else's problem. The administration is unlikely to submit another war funding request after this one before leaving office next January. That would make war funding one of the first issues facing the next president.