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← Older posts Newer posts →Despite Panetta’s Comment Afghanistan War Budget for 2013 is $90 Billion
February 2, 2012Defense Secretary Panetta made headlines this week for commenting that the US may end combat operations in Afghanistan “hopefully by the mid to latter part of 2013.” Is this the sign we have been hoping for? Maybe not. Sec. Panetta went on … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan Weekly Reader | Leave a comment2010 average American weekly income: $1,200. Weekly war costs: $1,800,000,000
January 31, 2012Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Public support for the Afghanistan war is at an all-time low. According to the most recent PEW poll, a majority of Americans (56%) want to bring the troops home as soon as possible. Only 38% … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged polls, timetable, War costs | 1 CommentAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Afghanistan war shipping costs $104 million per month
January 26, 2012It’s been almost eight weeks since Pakistan closed its borders to coalition forces in retaliation for a NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. With the borders remaining closed the shipping costs for war supplies are adding up. NATO redirected its … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan Weekly Reader, Pakistan, War costs | Leave a comment$500 billion for a stalemate
January 24, 2012 Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Between reports of violence on the one hand, and optimistic assessments of US war efforts on the other, the American public receives contradictory and incomplete assessments on the war in Afghanistan. Case in point: … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged defense spending, National Intelligence Estimate, Pakistan, War costs | Leave a commentAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Afghan Security Forces Cost Americans $12 Billion in 2011
January 20, 2012The deaths of eight U.S. troops at the hands of an Afghan Air Force officer last April highlights the many questions surrounding the Afghan national security forces. The incident was just one of many. Since 2005 more than 50 NATO … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghan security forces, Afghanistan Weekly Reader, drawdown, timetable, War costs | Leave a comment$83 billion in projected war costs for 2013
January 17, 2012Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group The president’s budget request for fiscal year 2013, starting October 1 of this year, will be released next week. Bloomberg reports the request is expected to include $83 billion for the wars in Iraq and … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, defense spending, drawdown, overseas contingency operations, timetable, War cost estimates, War costs | Leave a commentAfghanistan Weekly Reader: U.S. Spends More on Military Than Medicare
January 12, 2012The budget debate is heating up in Washington. With a national debt of over $15 trillion, the question is not whether to cut government spending, but where to make those cuts. The Department of Defense budget is a logical target. … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan Weekly Reader, defense spending, deficit reduction, War costs | Leave a commentNew strategy looks forward, but we’re still stuck in Afghanistan
January 9, 2012Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger The much-anticipated defense strategic guidance, the result of an eight-month review of U.S. military strategy, was released last week. One of the big changes from the defense review of two years ago is that … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged defense spending, strategy, War costs | Leave a commentAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Perspectives on the Peace Process
January 5, 2012The announcement that the Taliban will open a political office in Qatar in exchange for the release of Taliban officials from Guantanamo Bay has been alternately hailed as a dramatic breakthough and criticized as a surrender. Whatever the spin, this development indicates that … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged drawdown, negotiation, peace, Taliban, War costs | Leave a commentWithdraw Troops from Afghanistan but Stay Engaged
January 4, 2012Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger The war in Afghanistan has cost a lot. In terms of dollars, it has cost $570 billion since 2001, including over $120 billion budgeted for 2012. Caring for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged continuation, defense spending, drawdown, economy | Leave a comment ← Older posts Newer posts →