It's only money...lol...
Iran war's true cost closer to $50 billion, not $25 billion, U.S. officials say
Washington — The true price tag of the Iran war is closer to $50 billion, U.S. officials familiar with internal buttssments told CBS News, roughly double the public estimate the Pentagon cited in congressional testimony this week.
In testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a Pentagon official
placed the cost of the Defense Department's Operation Epic Fury at about $25 billion, a figure that did not fully account for damaged or destroyed equipment or U.S. military installations damaged.
As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before lawmakers this week to defend the Pentagon's sprawling $1.5 trillion budget request, U.S. officials familiar with internal buttssments suggested the war's price tag is closer to $50 billion so far.
The war is hitting Americans' pocketbooks more immediately, too.
The right-of-center American Enterprise Institute estimates higher fuel and fertilizer costs alone translate to an extra $150 per month for each U.S. household.
One widely cited tracker called the
Iran Cost Ticker estimates the U.S. has spent much more already...$51 billion so far...nearly double that of what the U.S. Treasury is claiming. That figure is
based on an initial
$11.3 billion spent during the first week of strikes, as reported by the Pentagon, followed by roughly $1 billion per day in ongoing costs. At about 46 days into the conflict, that pushes the total near the $51 billion mark.
This equates to approximately
$200 to $260 per household in direct, short-term military costs.
