Afghanistan Weekly Reader: Afghanistan Price Tag for U.S.: Over $550 Billion Since 2001
Policymakers are in the middle of intense debates over next year’s budget. Topics of contention include $100 million for a missile defense system on the East coast and $6 billion to avoid a hike in student loan interest rates. However, no one in Washington is questioning the amount spent on the Afghanistan war. In 2013 alone plan to spend over $90 billion. The total price tag since 2001: over $550 billion. Ending the war in Afghanistan would free up billions that could be spent on more important priorities. What are our elected officials waiting for?
From ASG
4/23/12
How Much Will the Strategic Pact Cost US Taxpayers?
Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski
The end of the US combat mission does not mean the end of our relationship with Afghanistan. However, we need a new roadmap for engagement—not just a downsized version of the current strategy, but a strategy that is effective, efficient, and sustainable.
ARTICLES
4/26/12
Thousands of US Troops Likely in Afghanistan Beyond 2014 Withdrawal Date
US News by John Bennett
A former NATO commander this week offered a snapshot into the Pentagon’s thinking about just what kinds of troops and hardware will be kept in Afghanistan, offering a window into how many American boots will still be on the ground after a formal withdrawal.
4/23/12
Clinton, Panetta ask congressman to stay out of Afghanistan
CNN
A top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee was asked by the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense not to go to Afghanistan because President Hamid Karzai objected to the visit.
4/26/12
Congressman calls Afghan president ‘corrupt prima donna’
CNN
A U.S. congressman barred from visiting Afghanistan over the weekend minced no words when characterizing the incident. Afghan president Hamid Karzai is a “corrupt prima donna,” House Foreign Affairs Committee member Dana Rohrabacher of California said in an interview Wednesday
OPINION
4/25/12
Are we deluding ourselves about Afghanistan?
Reuters by Daniel Davis
After more than a decade of warfare, we have to look ourselves in the mirror and admit that we have lost the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.
Still, even at this 11th hour there are ways the mission could be salvaged. There is, for example, broad consensus among a number of key constituencies for a cease-fire. The best chance for a viable and lasting end to the war could be conducted in the absence of fighting, not during it.
4/26/12
Insurmountable Obstacles in Afghanistan
The National Interest by James Joyner
While coalition forces have indeed made tremendous strides on the security front, the all-important political and economic pictures are, if anything, less encouraging than they were before the surge began.
4/19/12
An Afghanistan Reality Check for Max Boot
The National Interest Editorial Board
The realities are these: A pro-Western government may survive in Kabul, but it will not maintain strong influence over the Taliban strongholds of the south and east. Western influence will wane severely in Afghanistan irrespective of America’s military strategy there. Influence in the region will flow to neighboring states—Pakistan, India and Iran—with much more powerful interests there than the United States has.
