Debate fact check: Cost of Afghanistan

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The war in Afghanistan has quickly become a flash point in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy as the congressman from Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, and Tuesday’s debate was no exception.

The cost of the escalation in Afghanistan, as well as ongoing operations in Iraq, emerged as a key issue in the debate. WPRI took a look at claims made by two of the candidates.

THE TOTAL COST

Bill Lynch: “The easiest way [to shrink the deficit] is to stop spending $910 billion in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Lynch’s number was right - but out of date.

The total cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was $910 billion as of Sept. 30, 2009 (the last day of the federal fiscal year), according to the Congressional Research Service . That’s the number Lynch cited.

By January, though, the cost had already passed $1 trillion, and it continues to rise by the day as President Barack Obama moves troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

The two wars could cost another $1.4 billion between 2011 and 2020, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.

The updated figures do not change Lynch’s point, though, which was that the two wars cost the federal government a significant amount of money.

THE MONTHLY COST

David Cicilline: “For the last two years, we’ve spent more in Afghanistan than Iraq - we’re currently spending $4 billion a month, which is just a little bit less than the entire Community Development Block Grant for the entire country.”

Cicilline’s numbers are out of date, too.

The government spent $6.7 billion on the war in Afghanistan in February, the most recent month for which figures were available, according to a report published in May by USA Today . The cost of the Iraq war was $5.5 billion that month.

However, Cicilline was incorrect to say Afghanistan was more expensive than Iraq for the last two years. The country spent $95 billion on Iraq in fiscal 2009, compared with $55.2 billion on Afghanistan, according to the Congressional Research Service.

This year, though, Cicilline is correct - Afghanistan is projected to cost $105 billion, while Iraq is expected to cost $66 billion.

As for the Community Development Block Grant - a federal program that provides local governments with flexible funding - Afghanistan’s monthly cost of more than $6 billion is now significantly higher than the grant program’s annual cost of about $4 billion.