Responsible Statecraft:

By Ben Armbruster

A new report has found that President Trump’s illegal and unprovoked war against Iran has now cost American taxpayers upwards of $5 billion and counting.

Citing costs associated with Trump’s attack on Iran last June, as well as American-led strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen as part of Israel’s war on Gaza, in addition to regional buildup costs and the tab for lost military equipment so far, the report, published by the Center for American Progress, concludes that “a conservative estimate for the initial costs of Operation Epic Fury is more than $5 billion as of March 2 — and the campaign is just getting started.”

Quincy Institute defense budget expert Ben Freeman agrees that CAP's estimate is conservative. "Even that $5 billion estimate is very likely an undercount. For example, it doesn't include the cost of the $1.1 billion U.S. radar system Iran has allegedly destroyed in Qatar. It also doesn't include the cost of all the U.S. missile interceptors used in the conflict," he told RS.

Other newly released estimates vary by focus and variables. For example, the Institute for Policy Studies and the National Priorities Project concluded this week that the costs of operating two aircraft carrier groups, related naval support, and more than 200 military aircraft to be nearly $60 million per day.

Another widely shared tracker that is based on official data and news reports gathered and analyzed by artificial intelligence has the running tally at nearly $2.5 billion as of this writing (the site’s creator has paused its operations “to ensure all cost data and updates are fully accurate”).

Trump’s war is already underwater in terms of domestic support. Polling conducted just after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday found widespread disapproval, with one survey by Reuters/Ipsos finding that support among Republicans could fall once U.S. troops start getting killed and gas prices start rising (both of which are already happening).

Chris Preble, senior fellow and director of the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center, told RS that the American people shouldn’t have to rely on unofficial estimates.

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