Headlines from the War

On October 24th, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Today, Washington Post and the AFP say a new study by congressional Democrats estimates the economic costs could send the price tag of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ballooning to 3.5 trillion dollars by 2017, Democrats warned. This report estimates the conflicts “hidden costs,” which include oil prices, interest payments on money borrowed to pay for the wars and treating wounded veterans. "The full economic costs of the war to the American taxpayers and the overall U.S. economy go well beyond even the immense federal budget costs already reported." Through 2008, it is estimated that the combined wars will cost a family of four $20,200 in taxes.

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On the brighter side...

The U.S. military is sending 3,000 soldiers home from Diyala province, the second large unit to leave Iraq as troop levels are cut after a 30,000-strong "surge" earlier this year.

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, will not be replaced by a new unit when they leave the ethnically and religiously mixed province north of Baghdad by January, military officials said on Tuesday.

Instead, troops from the larger 4th Striker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, located near Baghdad, will take over the area, said military spokeswoman Major Peggy Kageleiry. There are around 162,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

About 2,200 Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit left western Anbar province in late September under President George W. Bush's plan to cut troop levels in Iraq.

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