Costs Of America’s Longest War

Ordinary Americans closely watched the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, as they did the start of the war nearly 20 years ago, in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

The war’s death toll for Afghans and Americans and their NATO allies is in the many tens of thousands, and generations of Americans to come will be paying off its cost, in the trillions of dollars.

Estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the United States has debt-financed as of 2020: $2 trillion

Estimated interest costs by 2050: Up to $6.5 trillion