Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
The president’s comments and the official cost estimate came amid reports that the US military is preparing for a new onslaught against Iran after the midterm elections.
US President Donald Trump told a crowd of his supporters on Tuesday that his illegal war of choice in Iran will end “whenever I want it to” as the conflict’s official price tag reportedly jumped to $47 billion—a figure that independent analysts believe to be a dramatic underestimate.
“It can be over whenever I want it to be over,” Trump said of the historically unpopular war during a rally in Texas, a week before the midterm elections. “But we have to have it end properly, with… a total statement [that] they will never have a nuclear weapon.” (Iran has already said repeatedly that it would never develop nuclear weapons, including in the opening pages of the Obama-era agreement that Trump shredded during his first White House term.)
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Trump’s remarks came as The Hill reported that the federal government’s official estimate of the Iran war’s cost has jumped $3 billion since last month, rising to $47 billion.
“The biggest chunk of the cost is munition replacement at $29 billion,” The Hill reported, citing a US Central Command estimate that the outlet obtained on Tuesday. “Nearly $12 billion is obligated for incremental costs of military action and another $6.1 billion to replace equipment losses, according to the estimate. Air Force’s support for deployed personnel, airlift, base, communication support, and transportation in theater costs $7.6 billion. The estimate does not include the cost to damaged US military bases in the Middle East.”
When such damage—which has been far more extensive than the Pentagon has acknowledged publicly—and other factors are included, the price tag balloons. Stephen Semler, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, estimated in July that the US spent more than $103 billion in the first four months of the war, which has killed thousands of people and sent gas prices soaring.
In the US, consumers have spent an extra $146 billion on gasoline and diesel since the war’s beginning in February, according to a running tracker maintained by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
Trump said Tuesday that the unauthorized war’s end would come “very quick,” despite evidence that his administration is preparing for yet another round of heavy bombings in Iran after the midterm elections.
“The US has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the US midterm elections,” The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday, citing unnamed people briefed on the conversations. “The communications through diplomatic and military channels are among a growing number of indications that the US and Israel are readying to launch a new round of heavy combat operations against Iran, risking a major escalation in hopes of degrading Tehran’s strength and pushing it toward negotiations.”
“US forces in the region have been restocking their munitions, and bomber aircraft and jet fighters are preparing for strikes,” the Journal added. “An additional aircraft carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit are also poised to join an armada of roughly 20 other warships operating in the Middle East next month, although some ships could rotate out.”
Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
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