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Nearly four years after Congress voted to authorize the Iraq war, it is time for President Bush’s
Republican allies in Congress to recognize the impact of the continuing occupation of Iraq on
American taxpayers—and its impact on this nation’s priorities. We need a new direction—not
more of the same.
At the same time billions has been spent in Iraq, Congress has short-changed important priorities.
They under-funded No Child Left Behind and left a giant hole in funding for prescription drugs
for seniors through Medicare. Student loan funding was cut and investments in homeland
security have been short-changed. We haven’t even provided our troops the equipment they need
like modern body armor and helmets. Veterans returning from Iraq face higher costs for their
health care.
All of this points to a Congress whose fiscal priorities are focused thousands of miles away in
Iraq—rather than back here in America. This report, using data provided by the National
Priorities Project, details the cost of the war to every congressional district in America and
reminds us what we were told, the realities of what happened and what lies ahead.
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: “It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six
months.” [February 7, 2003]
• Vice President Cheney: “I think it will go relatively quickly . . . (in) weeks rather than
months“ [March 16, 2003, NBC’s Meet the Press]
• Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers: "What you'd like to do is have it be
a short, short conflict. ... Iraq is much weaker than they were back in the '90s," when its
forces were routed from Kuwait. [March 4, 2003]
Cost of Iraq Report August 30, 2006
• OMB Director Mitch Daniels: “The administration’s top budget [Mitch Daniels] official
estimated today that the cost of a war with Iraq could be in the range of $50 billion to $60
billion…” [New York Times, 12/31/02]
• In late 2002, months before the Iraq war started, the Bush administration rebuked its own
chief economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, for publicly estimating that a war in Iraq
might cost $100 billion to $200 billion. [San Francisco Chronicle, 5/9/04]
Where We Are:
• With the passage of the FY 2006 supplemental appropriations bill, Congress has so far
appropriated about $319 billion for the war in Iraq. [Congressional Research Service,
6/14/06]
• A Congressional Budget Office analysis concluded that since 2003, $291 billion has been
spent on the war in Iraq. [National Journal’s Congress Daily, 7/14/06]
• The Iraq operation has already cost far more than the 1991 Persian Gulf War – which cost
about $89 billion in FY 2007 dollars. It is quite possible that the United States will
ultimately spend more on U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan than it did on
the Korean War - $455 billion - or the Vietnam War - $650 billion. [Center for Strategic
and Budgetary Assessments, 3/20/06]
• An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office predicted that if the United States keeps
forces in Iraq through the end of 2009, an additional $166 billion in Department of
Defense funding would be necessary over the FY 2007-16 period. CBO predicted that if
the United States reduces its deployed forces in Iraq to 40,000 after 2010 and keeps it at
that level through 2016, an additional $368 billion in Department of Defense funding
would be necessary over the FY 2007-16 period. [Congressional Budget Office, 7/13/06]
• Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes
predicted the cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion – assuming the U.S. mission in Iraq
lasts until 2010, with a steadily declining number of U.S. troops each year - after
factoring in long-term healthcare for wounded U.S. veterans, rebuilding a worn-down
military, and accounting for other unforeseen bills and economic losses. The figure is
more than four times what the war was expected to cost through 2006. [Boston Globe,
1/8/06]
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Cost of Iraq Report August 30, 2006
assistance would still need to be provided. [Center for Strategic and Budgetary
Assessments, 2/27/06]
• About 30 billion of taxpayer dollars and 20 billion in Iraqi funds have been spent so far
by the Bush Administration to rebuild Iraq. However, today, services in Iraq – oil
production, electricity and drinkable water – remain at pre-war levels. [Dollars Not
Sense, Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration, U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Minority Staff, Special
Investigations Division Report, 6/06]
• Since 2001, Halliburton has been paid more than $10 billion for its work in providing the
military with support operations. [St. Petersburg Times, 7/16/06]
• There have been three contracts awarded to Halliburton/KBR - totaling more than $18.4
billion - since the beginning of the war in Iraq - - two of which were no-bid contracts.
The first no-bid contract was for supplies for U.S. troops. The second no-bid contract
was for fuel and oil industry repairs. The third contract, awarded in January 2004 after a
competitive bidding process, was for the repair of oil fields in Southern Iraq. [Los
Angeles Times, 3/29/06; Dollars Not Sense, Government Contracting Under the Bush
Administration, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform,
Minority Staff, Special Investigations Division Report, 6/06]
• According to an audit by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, nearly $9
billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of
inefficiencies and bad management. The report concluded that $8.8 billion was reported
to have been spent on salaries, operating and capital expenditures, and reconstruction
projects between October 2003 and June 2004. The money came from revenues from the
3
Cost of Iraq Report August 30, 2006
United Nations' former oil-for-food program, oil sales and seized assets. Auditors were
unable to verify that the Iraqi money was spent for its intended purpose. In one case, they
raised the possibility that thousands of "ghost employees" were on an unnamed ministry's
payroll. [CNN.com, 1/31/05]
• More than 40 million children to attend a year of Head Start [National Priorities Project,
8/06]
• Health insurance for more than 185 million children for one year [National Priorities
Project, 8/06]
• Hiring more than 5 million additional public school teachers for one year [National
Priorities Project, 8/06]
• Clean up all contaminated sites in the U.S—EPA estimates approximately 350,000 over
the next 30 years. [Minority Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
Or, Use Only Some of What Has Been Spent for Homeland Security
• Equip commercial airliners with defenses against shoulder fired missile--$10 billion or
approximately 5 weeks in Iraq. [Minority Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
• Radiation detectors needed at all U.S. ports to scan 100% of cargo (rejected due to cost)--
$1.5 billion or 5 days in Iraq. [Minority Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
4
Cost of Iraq Report August 30, 2006
• Eliminate new costly co-pays and premiums forced on veterans--$2.5 billion or 9 days in
Iraq. [Minority Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
• Fully fund mental health research for veterans--$100 million or 9 hours in Iraq. [Minority
Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
• Medical and prosthetic research for veterans--$48 million or less than 5 hours in Iraq.
[Minority Appropriations Committee Staff, 7/06]
Data Sources
Unless otherwise indicated, the figures provided for the cost of the war for each district and
specific tradeoffs are all from the National Priorities Project on the web at
www.nationalpriorities.org.
###
Attachment: Chart of the cost of the war by district with tradeoffs. The trade-offs listed represent
each congressional district's share of the cost that could be used to fund other priorities facing the
entire country. For example, we indicate how the money each district spent on the war could be
used to provide health care for children across the entire country.
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Cost of Iraq By District With Tradeoffs
Scholarship Public Homes with
Children with Affordable School People with New Port
District State Share of the Cost for College Safety Renewable
Health Care Housing Teachers Health Care Schools Inspectors
Students Officers Electricity
01 Alabama $420,708,719 437,955 5,352 8,185 62,943 69 101,768 11,530 508,280 7,743
02 Alabama $392,993,079 409,104 5,000 7,645 58,796 65 95,064 10,771 474,796 7,233
03 Alabama $373,005,093 388,296 4,745 7,257 55,806 61 90,229 10,223 450,647 6,865
04 Alabama $379,513,927 395,072 4,828 7,383 56,779 63 91,803 10,401 458,511 6,985
05 Alabama $460,623,888 479,507 5,860 8,961 68,914 76 111,423 12,624 556,504 8,478
06 Alabama $567,865,967 591,145 7,224 11,047 84,959 94 137,365 15,563 686,069 10,452
07 Alabama $323,080,439 336,325 4,110 6,285 48,336 53 78,152 8,855 390,330 5,946
00 Alaska $545,044,070 193,017 3,812 8,754 100,220 54 168,640 12,450 1,302,282 6,641
01 Arizona $444,711,132 302,044 3,925 9,773 118,683 48 123,428 10,345 680,684 5,643
02 Arizona $571,936,570 388,454 5,048 12,569 152,637 62 158,739 13,305 875,418 7,257
03 Arizona $647,899,924 440,048 5,719 14,239 172,910 70 179,822 15,072 991,689 8,221
04 Arizona $412,774,533 280,353 3,643 9,071 110,160 45 114,564 9,602 631,801 5,237
05 Arizona $697,842,639 473,968 6,159 15,336 186,238 76 193,684 16,234 1,068,132 8,854
06 Arizona $646,587,966 439,157 5,707 14,210 172,560 70 179,458 15,042 989,681 8,204
07 Arizona $415,243,058 282,029 3,665 9,126 110,819 45 115,249 9,660 635,579 5,269
08 Arizona $548,015,135 372,207 4,837 12,044 146,253 60 152,100 12,749 838,803 6,953
01 Arkansas $665,373,962 415,921 9,773 14,880 178,757 95 147,011 19,615 933,086 9,644
02 Arkansas $852,819,084 533,092 12,526 19,072 229,115 122 188,427 25,140 1,195,949 12,361
03 Arkansas $784,885,355 490,627 11,529 17,553 210,864 112 173,417 23,138 1,100,682 11,377
04 Arkansas $680,094,291 425,123 9,989 15,210 182,712 97 150,264 20,048 953,729 9,858
01 California $611,170,797 381,248 3,563 9,506 253,475 66 116,413 11,232 1,774,441 9,116
02 California $526,720,878 328,568 3,071 8,193 218,450 57 100,328 9,680 1,529,254 7,856
03 California $805,947,473 502,749 4,699 12,536 334,256 88 153,514 14,811 2,339,946 12,021
04 California $775,329,156 483,650 4,521 12,059 321,557 84 147,682 14,249 2,251,050 11,564
05 California $576,242,474 359,460 3,360 8,963 238,989 63 109,760 10,590 1,673,032 8,595
06 California $927,902,878 578,825 5,410 14,433 384,835 101 176,743 17,053 2,694,025 13,840
07 California $829,498,137 517,440 4,836 12,902 344,023 90 158,000 15,244 2,408,321 12,372
08 California $821,779,904 512,626 4,791 12,782 340,822 89 156,530 15,102 2,385,913 12,257
09 California $696,074,308 434,211 4,059 10,827 288,687 76 132,586 12,792 2,020,946 10,382
10 California $1,022,949,638 638,115 5,964 15,911 424,254 111 194,848 18,799 2,969,978 15,258
11 California $974,122,241 607,657 5,680 15,151 404,004 106 185,547 17,902 2,828,215 14,529
12 California $1,102,936,427 688,011 6,431 17,155 457,428 120 210,083 20,269 3,202,208 16,451
13 California $979,299,855 610,886 5,710 15,232 406,151 107 186,533 17,997 2,843,248 14,607
14 California $1,225,980,367 764,766 7,148 19,069 508,459 133 233,520 22,531 3,559,447 18,286
15 California $1,176,631,945 733,982 6,860 18,301 487,992 128 224,120 21,624 3,416,171 17,550
16 California $1,062,136,100 662,560 6,193 16,520 440,507 116 202,312 19,520 3,083,750 15,842
17 California $772,259,582 481,735 4,503 12,012 320,284 84 147,097 14,192 2,242,138 11,519
18 California $537,024,013 334,995 3,131 8,353 222,723 58 102,290 9,869 1,559,167 8,010
19 California $647,096,261 403,658 3,773 10,065 268,374 70 123,256 11,892 1,878,745 9,652
20 California $421,152,030 262,714 2,456 6,551 174,667 46 80,219 7,740 1,222,751 6,282