According to Reuters, U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel stated on July 21 that the U.S. war against Iran has cost $37.5 billion, which is about $8 billion more than the estimate previously announced.
At a hearing in the US Congress on that day, Hagerseeth said that this figure includes both existing war expenses and estimated expenses as of September 30.
It is currently unclear how the Pentagon came up with the figure of $37.5 billion. Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Department of Defense stated in mid-May that the Iraq War had cost about $29 billion, but this figure did not include the damage to military bases. Many analysts believe this estimate is low.
On the 21st, Hagel attended a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee together with Dan Keane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was also the first time since the U.S. military resumed its military operations against Iraq earlier this month that Hagel has been publicly questioned by U.S. Congress members.
Currently, there are less than four months left before the U.S. midterm elections, and the Republican Party is facing a tough battle to retain its majority in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Democrats are showing a steady increase in poll numbers, and they are trying to link this unpopular war with Iran to issues related to the cost of living for American citizens.
The fragile cease-fire agreement between the United States and Iraq broke down earlier this month. So far, both sides have been launching attacks on each other almost every day.
Since the United States and Israel launched military actions against Iran on February 28, as of July 17, when the attack in Jordan occurred, official U.S. figures show that 17 U.S. soldiers have died. In addition, approximately 430 U.S. soldiers were injured.
