Asked about the $200 billion the US Pentagon has reportedly requested to fund the war against Iran, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth replied yesterday (Thursday) “it takes money to kill the bad guys.”
The cost of the US war in the Middle East is not publicly known.
However, it is certainly very high. According to US media, the Pentagon’s comptroller revealed to Congress during a briefing of members that the first six days of US military operations alone cost $11.3 billion.
“When you take into account the quantities of ammunition and interceptor missiles used, the number of aircraft missions, the fuel consumed and the cost of using airborne strike groups, the bill is going to be very high,” commented Daniel Schneiderman, an international policy analyst at Penn in Washington.
Waging wars “is very expensive: from “cruise missiles” to “interceptor missiles and THAAD batteries”, “bombs and missiles fired from aircraft” and “the fuel and maintenance necessary to operate those aircraft and the aircraft carriers from which they are launched”. Not counting “the skilled labor” required for all of this, according to Daniel Schneiderman.
The war against Iran will be “among the most expensive interventions the US has ever undertaken.”
Pete Hegseth said yesterday during a press conference that the Pentagon would “go back to Congress” to secure “adequate funding,” possibly even higher.
As for Donald Trump, he told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House that it was a “small price to pay” to ensure “we stay on top.”
The day before yesterday, Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Pentagon, through the White House, has requested that Congress approve an appropriation of more than $200 billion to fund the war against Iran.
