The Pentagon has told lawmakers in the United States that the war on Iran has cost American taxpayers at least $47.1bn so far. The estimate, disclosed last week, comes just days before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine if US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party will maintain control of Congress for the next two years. We take a close look at the Pentagon estimate, and what it means for the US economy and the midterm elections.
The Pentagon told Congress that the cost of the US-Israel war on Iran as of October 16 had risen to at least $47.1bn. Congress officials shared the Pentagon’s cost estimate breakdown with The New York Times. According to the Times and other US media reports, the Pentagon’s estimate covers the operational costs of the war and includes a projected cost of $29bn needed to replace expended munitions such as bombs, bullets and other military hardware that has been deployed in the war so far.
It also reveals that since the war started on February 28, the US Air Force has spent $7.6bn on fighter and bomber units; the US Navy has spent $1.5bn on two dozen warships and aircraft carriers; and the US Army has spent $2.1bn to sustain its troops in the Middle East. According to the US Central Command, there are more than 50,000 American troops stationed in the Middle East, comprising personnel deployed to large, permanent bases and to smaller forward sites across the region. Officials told the Times that the Pentagon has spent $6.1bn to replace damaged aircraft and munitions, $645m on transport and support for commandos in the region and $24.5m on “in-house medical support” for US service members.
A congressional official added that the US Transportation Command also spent $92.2m to move equipment, and the US Cyber Command spent $14m on “cyber support operations”. The Pentagon’s estimate, however, does not include how much Washington will need to spend to repair its damaged military bases across the Middle East and also does not take into account the cost of fuel, which is needed to power ships and aircraft used in the war. While the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged 18 US service member fatalities in the war, The Washington Post has cited six unnamed US officials stating the true death toll is at least 22.
According to the official Pentagon Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) database, 865 military personnel have been wounded in the war with Iran. According to an October 19 report by USA Today, five senators from the Democratic Party had written to Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, demanding that the Pentagon reveal the true cost of the war. Their letter said the Trump administration’s “ongoing efforts to hide the true cost of this war are outrageous and unacceptable”.
Trump has not commented on the latest Pentagon estimate. But the Trump administration’s war on Iran has grown increasingly unpopular with US citizens due to its impact on US and global energy costs. Since early March, shortly after the war began, Iran has closed the critical Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped until then.
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