US war pushes 90% of Afghans into poverty

The overall financial cost of US warfare includes $2.3 trillion for the full-scale military campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan and $2.1 trillion in Iraq and Syria

- Michael Jansen

AFGHANISTAN

Once the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was complete, US President Joe Biden proclaimed an end to the two-decade US-led war in that country as well as an end to “major (US) military operations to remake other countries.” Biden also vowed to defend the US from Daesh and similar groups without embroiling the US in other “forever” ground wars. Instead, Biden intends to wage such conflicts with “over the horizon” assets –bombers and drones and demonstrated their use when striking Daesh bombers seeking to target Kabul’s airport during the final days of the US pullout.

This means no end to the campaign, dubbed the “war on terror,” by George W. Bush in his address to Congress and his country on September 20th, 2001, nine days after Al Qaeda’s attacks on New York and Washington. He also transformed the planned offensive against Al Qaeda’s presence in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan into a global effort designed to eliminate Osama Bin Laden’s organization and similar groups. To carry on with this offensive, the US retains a military presence in 85 countries.

In last week’s report on the worldwide US military campaign, Brown University’s Costs of War Project summed up the first two decades by pointing out that this war has killed more than one million people and cost the US $8 trillion. The Project’s researchers covered both the human and material costs of conflicts the US has waged in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.

The overall financial cost of US warfare includes $2.3 trillion for the full-scale military campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan and $2.1 trillion in Iraq and Syria.