The United States spent nearly $ 1 trillion on the mission in Afghanistan. All the numbers, including the Italian, German and British missions
The war in Afghanistan was the longest ever fought by the Americans: it began in 2001, after the terrorist attacks on September 11 by al-Qaeda, and will formally end on August 31 with the withdrawal of the last troops. The Taliban, however – the terrorist-political organization that governs Afghanistan, supporting al-Qaeda before being overthrown by the United States in December 2001 – have already completed the reconquest of the country and taken control of the capital Kabul: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled, the national army did not offer much resistance and the evacuation operations took place in chaos.
Despite everything, US President Joe Biden defended the decision to withdraw the soldiers from Afghanistan last night, because – he said – the war aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat of al-Qaeda and not at nation-building, that is to say, ” building a state ”and its institutions. THE COSTS (WITH INTERESTS) OF THE AFGHANISTAN WAR
According to a January 2020 Brown University study taken by the Associated Press, the United States spent $ 2 trillion, financed through debt, on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: they are counted together because both motivated by counter-terrorism and following the attacks of 11 September.
The study estimates that, by 2050, interest will reach 6500 billion. Even if the military operation is effectively over, the Americans will have to continue to pay the costs for several more years.
Defining precise figures, however, is difficult because the expenditure for the mission in Afghanistan has been divided among various government departments that have different methods of counting costs (methods which among other things change over time). THE AMERICAN TROOPS
The American troops deployed in Afghanistan reached their peak in 2011: about 110 thousand units. In 2020, the soldiers present on Afghan territory were only four thousand.
Below is a graph published by the BBC that incorporates data from SIGAR, the US government authority that monitors Afghanistan’s reconstruction programs. Official figures may not count special forces and other units deployed on a temporary basis. 100 BILLION A YEAR, THEN DECLINE
Between 2010 and 2012, when the United States maintained a presence of over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, the costs of the mission amounted to nearly 100 billion dollars a year.
Expenses then dropped dramatically once the US military shifted focus from combat operations to focus more on training Afghan forces. In 2018, for example, the annual expenditure on the mission in Afghanistan amounted to approximately 45 billion dollars.MILITARY AND RECONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURE
According to the US Department of Defense, the total military expenditure (from October 2001 to September 2019) was 778 billion.
In addition to this, the State Department and other US government agencies spent $ 44 billion on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan over the same period, bringing the total to $ 822 billion.
However, the figure does not include expenses related to Pakistan, which is used by US forces as a base for operations in Afghanistan.
According to a 2019 study by Brown University – which this time counted the war expenses in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the sums allocated for fiscal year 2020 -, the military mission cost the United States about 978 billion. THE AFGHAN ARMY EXPENDITURE
Since 2002, the United States has devoted $ 88.3 billion to create and strengthen Afghan security forces, including the army and police. THE EXPENDITURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND GERMANY
After the US, the largest contingents in Afghanistan were those of the United Kingdom and Germany, which spent an estimated total of 30 and 19 billion dollars respectively on the war. THE EXPENDITURE OF NATO
NATO concluded combat operations in December 2014, but maintained a presence of 13,000 troops on Afghan soil to train Afghan forces and support counter-terrorism operations.
In 2021, so far, NATO has sent supplies and equipment to Afghanistan worth $ 72 million. THE EXPENSES OF ITALY
The Italian mission in Afghanistan began on 30 October 2001 and officially ended on 29 June. The troops involved were 50,000, with 53 victims.
According to a study by the Milex Military Spending Observatory, the presence in the country cost our country 8.7 billion euros. Of these, 840 million went to the Afghan armed forces.How much did the Italian missions in Afghanistan cost? Report
