The combined costs of the two wars will add up to between $4 and $6 trillion. That amount includes post-conflict costs of taking care of soldiers’ physical and mental rehabilitation as well as the direct costs of war.
“One of the most significant challenges to future U.S. national security policy will not originate from any external threat,” the report says. “Rather it is simply coping with the legacy of the conflicts we have already fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The report also indicates that costs for the Vietnam and first Gulf Wars are still increasing over time.