Unlike academic estimates, which have calculated total costs as much higher, the Congressional Research Service doesn’t include in its calculations the lifetime costs of medical care for disabled veterans, imputed interest on the deficit or potential increases to the base defense budget deemed to be a consequence of the war, according to Amy Belasco, author of the report.
“Such costs are difficult to compute, subject to extensive caveats and often based on methodologies that may not be appropriate,” she wrote.
A June cost-of-war assessment by Neta Crawford, a political science professor at Boston University, put the potential total cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and assistance to Pakistan since 2001 at $4.4 trillion, including $316 billion in interest costs and $1 trillion through 2054 for veterans care.