On the night of March 19, 2003, U.S forces initiated an aerial assault on a location in Baghdad believed to be where Saddam Hussein was meeting with top Iraqi advisors, thus marking the beginning of the U.S. war in Iraq.
On Tuesday, seven years later, President Obama will announce the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, while outlining the administrations renewed combat in Afghanistan. Despite the end of the war in Iraq, 50,000 U.S. troops will remain to ``advise and assist’’ the Iraqi forces until the end of 2011 as outlined by the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement
In order to assess the amount of forces deployed in the theaters of Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the total amount appropriated for both wars, I compiled some dollar figures and troop estimates based on data from the Congressional Research Service, the Department of Defense, and the Congressional Budget Office.
• Total war funding for Iraq increased markedly after the fall of 2002 to $53 billion during the invasion year of 2003, then nearly tripling to $131 billion in FY2007, and peaking at $142 billion during the surge in FY2008.
• With the adoption of a withdrawal plan by President Obama in February 2009, total war costs for Iraq have declined, dropping to $96 billion in FY2009 to $66 billion in FY2010 and $51 billion in FY2011, when troop levels are trimmed to 43,000.
• War costs in Afghanistan in FY2003 and FY 2004, approached $15 billion, growing to about $20 billion in FY2005 and FY2006, with troop levels at about 20,000. Funding then jumped to $39 billion in FY2007, and $44 billion in FY2008, as troop levels increased to over 30,000 as the conflict grew more intense.
• The cost of the Afghan war has risen considerably since FY2006, having increased from $19 billion in FY2006 to $60 billion in FY2009
• If the pending FY2010 supplemental request is approved,, total war costs will total $1.1 trillion, including $751 billion for Iraq, $336 billion for Afghanistan, and $29 billion for enhanced security.
• Average troop strength in Iraq will decrease from 100,000 in FY2010 to 43,000 in FY2011, while troop strength in Afghanistan will grow from 84,000 in FY2010 to 98,000 in FY2011.
• Not until FY2011 will average strength fall by 20 percent to 145,000 as the withdrawal in Iraq gathers speed and troop strength in Afghanistan levels off.
• In FY2010, additional troops in Afghanistan cancel out scheduled withdrawals from Iraq, with average troop strength remaining at about 185,000 in both FY2009 and FY2010.
• Under CBO projections, funding for Iraq, Afghanistan and the Global War on Terror could total from about $1.56 trillion to about $1.88 trillion for FY2001-FY2020.
• In FY2010, Afghan war costs account for 62 percent of war costs; 38 percent in Iraq, exactly opposite of what it was the previous year.
• In FY2010, the cost for Afghanistan increases by $45 billion or 75 percent from FY2009; representing a 140 percent increase over the $44 billion in FY2008, while the cost for Iraq drops by about one-third from $96 billion to $66 billion.
• During 2009, troop levels declined slowly in Iraq, while troop levels rose steadily in Afghanistan, growing from about 33,000 in January 2009 to about 45,000 in June 2009.
• With the FY2011 budget adding an additional 4,000 support troops in Afghanistan, President Obama has now approved a total deployment from 56,000 to 60,000 additional troops for Afghanistan by FY2011.
• As of June, 2010, the number of troops in Afghanistan (94,000) exceeded the number in Iraq (92,000) for the first time.
• By September 2010, the number of troops in Afghanistan will reach 98,000, according to the time frame outlined by President Obama
• DOD’s FY2011 war request assumes average troop strength of 102,000 in FY2011 in Afghanistan, a small increase above FY2010, and 43,000 troops in Iraq.
• Along with U.S. troops, NATO nations currently contribute 41,000 troops, bringing the total for foreign troops in Afghanistan to approximately 139,000
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Key Dates of U.S. Presence in Iraq
• October 16, 2002: President Bush signs the authorization for use of military force against Iraq.
• June, 2004: U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 1546, reaffirming the authorization for the multinational force in Resolution 1511, while noting that its presence in Iraq “is at the request of the incoming Interim Government of Iraq.”
• May 1, 2007: President George W. Bush vetoed the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, H.R. 1591, partially due to certain measures that would have limited the U.S. military role in Iraq.
• November 26, 2007: U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel Al-Maliki signed a ``Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship’’ between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America.
• November 17, 2008: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari sign a withdrawal agreement, which among other provisions, calls for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces no later than December 31, 2011.
• January 1, 2009: The U.S. signs a security agreement with Iraq that requires all U.S. combat troops to move outside of cities by the end of June 2009, while all U.S. troops leave Iraq by December 31, 2011.
• February 27, 2009: President Obama delivers a speech to U.S. Marines at Camp Lejeune, stating the U.S. strategy in Iraq was complete and calls for U.S. troops to be reduced to 50,000 troops by August 31, 2010; and a complete withdrawal by December 31, 2011.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
Source: Congressional Research Service, Department of Defense, Congressional Budget Office
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