Exhibit 243

The U.S. Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars

Exhibit 243 · Research paper (not peer reviewed)

The U.S. Budgetary Costs of the Post-9/11 Wars

There has been no single U.S. government estimate for the total costs of the post-9/11 wars.

Table 1 sums DoD and State OCO ($2,101B and $189B), interest on OCO borrowing ($1,087B), a war-driven increase to the DoD base budget ($884B), veterans' care through FY2022 ($465B) and homeland security ($1,117B) to $5,843B, plus about $2,200B in future veterans' obligations (Bilmes) for $8,043B in current dollars. Excludes state and local spending, allied spending, future interest after FY2023 and some aid. Cites DoD's March 2021 figure of $1.596 trillion through FY2020.

Source: Costs of War Project, Watson Institute, Brown University (Neta C. Crawford)
Date: 1 September 2021
Quoted from: p. 2
Grade: Primary record
Document: https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/sites/default/files/papers/Costs-of-War_US-Budgetary-Costs-of-Post-9-11-Wars.pdf
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding DEF-5.1: Primary record The Costs of War project estimated post-9/11 war spending through fiscal year 2022 at $8.043 trillion, including about $2.2 trillion in future veterans' care, while the Department of Defense's own report lists $1.73 trillion in war-related costs for fiscal years 2001 through 2023.
Finding DEF-5.2: Open question No single U.S. government estimate of the total cost of the post-9/11 wars exists.