Last month, the cost of the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq surpassed $1.1 trillion. The Iraq War hit $740 billion, and the Af-Pak wars surged past $360 billion. 2 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq, and 50 U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan, making it the second deadliest October (in Afghanistan) since the nine-year war began. More, likely in the millions of dollars range, was also spent on military aid, drone attacks, and an increase of special forces personnel in Yemen, as the Obama administration and Congress attempt to covertly intervene against a rising Al-Qaeda insurgency.
In addition, Transparency International released its annual corruption perceptions index, and Afghanistan and Iraq were rated as the second and third most corrupt nations in the world, respectively. Yemen registered as more corrupt compared to last year.
U.S. taxpayers should be aware that the higher-than-expected cost of the wars continues to be financed by more borrowing and money printing. And no matter the outcome of today's mid-term elections, it is highly likely that current Republocrat foreign policy will remain unchanged for at least another two years. In my opinion, this is bad news for the budget, bad news for the value of the Dollar, bad news for the PTSD epidemic and record suicide rate in the U.S. military, and bad news for America's overall security.
*Editor's note: War costs can be tracked here, and casualty counts can be monitored here.