American spending on Iraq and Afghanistan has eclipsed the cost of the Vietnam War, making the War on Terror the second most expensive conflict in United States' history.
The Senate approved a budget of almost $100 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, taking total spending to £300 billion. The decision to approve funding marks a reversal for the Democrat-controlled Congress.
This £300 billion is more than the inflation-adjusted £276 billion that the US spent in its ill-fated nine-year war in Vietnam. Only the Second World War cost more.
It means the war has cost more than £1,000 for every man, woman and child in America, with more money going on Iraq than the country's total spending on education and justice.
The cost of America's war in Iraq has ballooned from the £25 billion estimate that the White House gave in January 2003, when it planned on a short invasion followed by early withdrawal.
[Excerpt of an article by Chris Stephen, The Scotsman]
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