Costs could rise by $2-3 billion a month or higher if the fighting escalates, the Congressional Budget Office has cautioned<\/p>\n
The US war with Iran cost the Pentagon approximately $38 billion in its first five months, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill could rise by another $2 billion to $3 billion for every additional month of fighting \u2013 and by more if hostilities intensify.
\nIn a report released on Tuesday, the CBO estimated Defense Department expenses from the start of US combat operations on February 28 through August 1. The figure includes the estimated cost of replacing expended munitions and equipment lost in battle, as well as additional flying hours, military operations, and higher fuel costs.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US democracy hits 50-year lows \u2013 report<\/p>\n
The office said its estimate was \u201csubject to considerable uncertainty\u201d because the Pentagon did not provide the requested information, forcing analysts to rely on government databases and publicly available reports. The estimate also excludes the cost of repairing damaged US bases, military casualties, future veterans\u2019 care, and expenses borne by other federal agencies.
\nAnother month of conflict would cost about $2 billion if violence remains at the \u201clow and sporadic\u201d levels seen in May and June, the CBO estimated. If operations return to their July intensity, the monthly bill would rise to about $3 billion. Costs could be higher still if the conflict escalates further.
\nBillions of dollars\u2019 worth of US weaponry has been used up in the conflict. The CBO estimates that replacing munitions used through August 1 would cost $21.7 billion, including $7.3 billion for land-attack cruise missiles, $13.1 billion for missile-defense interceptors and $1.2 billion for other weapons.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Disgruntled troops leak PHOTOS of extensive damage to US bases from Iranian strikes<\/p>\n
The Trump administration asked Congress in June for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, including $67.1 billion for the Defense Department. The CBO assessed that $42.3 billion of the overall request appeared directly related to the Iran war.
\nThe report was released as CBS News published photographs showing extensive damage caused by Iranian missile and drone strikes on US positions across the Middle East. The images were provided anonymously by active-duty service members because of military restrictions on contact with the media.
\n\u201cThis is major damage to our bases that hasn\u2019t been communicated to the American public,\u201d one deployed service member told CBS News.
\nThe photographs showed a destroyed E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, along with damaged buildings and burned-out vehicles at US facilities in Kuwait.
\nThe Pentagon inspector general separately reported that US forces had suffered $3.7 billion in equipment losses through late June. Nearly 60 manned and unmanned aircraft were damaged or destroyed, according to the watchdog.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Pentagon unsure about \u2018future posture\u2019 in Middle East<\/p>\n
Trump said last month that the conflict was costing the United States \u201crelatively little.\u201d His remark came as fighting continued, despite his repeated declarations of victory. Trump proclaimed \u201ctotal and complete victory\u201d in early April and has since repeatedly claimed that Washington won or was close to ending the conflict.
\nThe war has faced mounting domestic opposition and criticism over the administration\u2019s decision to conduct hostilities without congressional authorization. The House voted for a third time this week to limit US military involvement, approving a war-powers resolution by 220 votes to 204. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure.
\nSeparately, International IDEA reported that key measures of US democracy have fallen to their lowest levels in 50 years. The organization said the Trump administration\u2019s actions had weakened the rule of law both domestically and internationally, while warning more broadly that democratic erosion increases the risk of conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Costs could rise by $2-3 billion a month or higher if the fighting escalates, the Congressional Budget Office has cautioned The US war with Iran cost the Pentagon approximately $38…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t