The President will give a prime time address tomorrow night that is expected to announce the withdrawal of about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan this year and the rest of the surge troops by the end of 2012. The President still seems committed to transitioning security to the Afghan Army by the end of 2014.
What are the costs of the Afghanistan War?
Between FY2009 and FY2010, average monthly DOD spending for Afghanistan grew from $4.4 billion to $6.7 billion a month, a 50% increase while average troop strength almost doubled from 44,000 to 84,000 as part of the troop surge announced by the President last year…….
If Congress also approves the FY2012 war funding request of $132 billion, cumulative war funding would then reach $1.415 trillion total including:
- $823 billion for Iraq (63%);
- $557 billion for Afghanistan (35%);
- $29 billion for enhanced security (2%); and
- $6 billion unallocated DOD costs (1/2%)
More troops in Afghanistan then Iraq
As of June 2010, we had more troops in Afghanistan than Iraq. The average strength for troops in Afghanistan is expected to be about 102,000 on FY11 (the current fiscal year) while the troops in Iraq are at about 45,000. There are about 41,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan meaning that there are about 139,000 total foreign troops there. The US planned to have 243,000 trained Afghan security forces by October of 2010. However, there are questions about the ability to keep the security forces intact after the withdrawal of foreign troops.
So, what should we listen for in the speech tomorrow? I would want to know at a minimum:
When will we leave Afghanistan?
Will there be a permanent base in Afghanistan?
I’d also be curious to know:
What types of commitments can we expect in Afghanistan after we withdraw?
Are we committed to supporting our veterans in the future?
Anything else?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
http://www.fas.org/...
http://www.crisisgroup.org/...