Spotlight on the war in Afghanistan Spotlight on the war in Afghanistan: Current human realities, state-level economic impact & changes in the Obama Administration's first 100 days   NORTHAMPTON, MA — National Priorities Project (NPP), in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee, has released The Cost of War in Afghanistan, a four page primer on the war's current economic and human realities. With this primer, National Priorities Project launches a commitment to track the US cost of the war in Afghanistan through an individual cost of war counter, state-level numbers and trade-offs. This new series of information is similar to NPP's Iraq War fact sheets and counters which have been used by national media outlets including CNN, National Public Radio and MSNBC while attracting more than 2.5 million web hits each month. As Congress considers additional war funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2009, National Priorities Project offers a state-level table and breakdowns of the President's proposed total war spending by congressional district, county and city. Of the President's $83.4 billion supplemental request, NPP analyses show that $77.1 billion is for war and ancillary operations.  Of that, we estimate that $52.7 billion is dedicated to the Iraq War for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2009. The estimated remaining $24.4 billion in war-funding is for the expanding war in Afghanistan and related operations1. Notably, we have not included funding for Pakistan (this is a part of the remaining $6.3 billion requested that is not directly related to conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq). As U.S. military intervention spills into Pakistan from Afghanistan, this distinction may be revisited. If NPP had considered operations in Pakistan in the same light as Afghanistan, this would add $1.8 billion to war funding. To date, the cost of war that has been approved by Congress is $830.2 billion with $657.3 billion to Iraq and $172.9 billion to Afghanistan. The $77.1 billion from the supplemental request brings total war spending to $907.3 billion dollars since 2001. According to the Obama administration, this is the last time war spending will be funded through an emergency supplemental request. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2010, war funding will be a part of the regular budget process. While this means that war spending as a part of the normal budget process will be subject to rigors that have been largely absent from emergency supplemental requests, the possibility exists that it may be more difficult to track war-related non-military spending such as economic support or some humanitarian aid. We hope that in the spirit of budgetary transparency advocated by the Obama administration, these aspects of war-related spending will continue to be clear in upcoming budget requests. The table below shows, for each state, how much money has already been allocated to total war spending including Iraq, Afghanistan, and related operations; what the additional amount under consideration will cost; and what the requested funding could buy in local services. For congressional district, county, and city data, click here.   Cost of War to States Requested Funding Could Provide: States and US Total war funding approved to date1   President's new funding request (remainder FY09)3 People with health insurance for one year Homes with renewable electricity for one year Students with maximum Pell Grants ($5350) United States $830,200,000,000   $77,057,000,000 22,710,848 79,773,852 14,403,178 North Carolina $22,471,940,801   $2,085,786,970 446,702 1,654,730 389,867 1Total war funding to date includes all approved funds for Afghanistan since FY2001 plus all approved funds for Iraq since FY2003. See CRS Report RL33110, October 2008. “The purpose of this resource is to help people across the United States reflect on the current Afghanistan war and its proposed expansion,” notes NPP Executive Director, Jo Comerford. “With President Obama moving forward with his campaign promise to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, the US public faces two important questions as we reach his administration's auspicious 100-day milestone: What will be the cost and impact of more troops, for both the US and Afghanistan? And what are the Obama Administration's long-term goals?” Seven years ago, the “global war on terror” began in Afghanistan as a military response to the September 11 attacks. In March 2003, the United States also invaded Iraq. Today, US forces are deeply engaged in both countries with some 200,000 US troops in the region, of which 137,000 are in Iraq and about 40,000 in Afghanistan, with the Obama Administration requesting an additional 21,000 troops. Visit www.nationalpriorities.org to access this information and other timely federal budget analysis tools and reports. The American Friends Service Committee can be found on-line at www.afsc.org. The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a 501(c)(3) research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent.  Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels.  For more information, go to http://nationalpriorities.org. Contact: Jo Comerford 413.559.1649 (cell) 413.584.9556 (office)