Warren calls war ‘a betrayal’; Durbin assails Trump’s ‘hubris’
The war with Iran has cost the Pentagon 43 military platforms — including 11 fixed-wing crewed aircraft, 25 drones and a THAAD radar — through August 1, according to a Congressional Budget Office report published Tuesday.
CBO estimated that replacing the equipment would cost between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion. The report’s broader accounting put cumulative Pentagon costs at approximately $38 billion through August 1, covering expenditures to replace expended munitions and equipment lost in battle, flying hours, other operational costs and increased fuel. The figure does not include costs incurred by other parts of the federal government, CBO said.
The United States has been at war with Iran since February 28, with months of both intense and limited combat. According to UPI, the conflict appears to be at an impasse with no resolution visible on the horizon.
CBO projected that Defense Department costs will continue to rise at roughly $2 billion a month if fighting remains low and sporadic, as it did in May and June. If combat intensifies to the level seen in July, monthly costs could climb to $3 billion, the report said.
The main opportunity cost of the war, according to CBO, has been the heavy expenditure of missile defense interceptors — a finding that runs counter to repeated Trump administration assertions that U.S. munitions stockpiles remain high. The conflict will leave the United States at a “reduced inventory” of interceptors for several years, CBO said.
The interceptor shortfall would be “especially problematic” if conflict arose with a country such as China, which is believed to maintain a large arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, the report warned. Such weaponry could play a significant role if Beijing attempted to seize Taiwan, described in the report as a longstanding objective of the Chinese Communist Party.
For American households, the war has driven up energy prices and worsened inflation. CBO estimated that higher energy costs attributed to the conflict added 2.3 percentage points to the annualized inflation rate in the second quarter. The war is projected to cause the inflation rate in the first quarter of next year to be 0.5 percentage points higher than CBO had previously forecast.
The conflict has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 U.S. service members and injuries to hundreds more, according to UPI reporting.
Senate Democrats criticized President Donald Trump for launching the war. In a statement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the war was “a one-two punch burning a hole in Americans’ pockets and burning a hole in our munitions supply.”
“This war is a betrayal of the American people, and it needs to end,” Warren said.
In June, the Trump administration requested $87.6 billion in supplemental appropriations, of which $67.1 billion was designated for the Pentagon to pay for the war.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., criticized Trump not only for starting the war but for having “no idea” how to end it.
“His hubris is costing America billions and forcing families to pay more for everyday essentials,” Durbin said.