It took a while, but against the backdrop of another $100+ Billion wartime "supplemental", the expansion of the standing army, and General Petreaus' recent re-upping of the surge strength, I dug about for a long while until I could compose this table.
The mis-management of Operation Iraqi Freedom has probably cost the nation billions more than if it had been handled properly.
Here is an interesting metric. The cost of the war in Iraq, if you include conservative estimates for rebuilding the army and military benefits, has probably gone past the sum of ALL costs associated with the "New Deal" welfare programs, what used be called "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" (AFDC under HHS supervision).
In other words, the entire history of "welfare" cost the US taxapayer just about as much as Bush's incompetence in executing the Iraqi effort.
The table below shows the total of Federal AND State expenditures, benefits and administration costs, from 1962 to 1996, when the law was changed. The total is $734 billion in 1996 dollars. (You can make your own back-of-the-envelop inflation from 1996 to 2003, when OIF started.)
| Yr | $ B |
|---|---|
| 1962 | $3.7 |
| 1963 | $3.9 |
| 1964 | $4.3 |
| 1965 | $4.7 |
| 1966 | $4.9 |
| 1967 | $5.6 |
| 1968 | $6.8 |
| 1969 | $8.1 |
| 1970 | $19.1 |
| 1971 | $22.1 |
| 1972 | $25.2 |
| 1973 | $26. |
| 1974 | $25.6 |
| 1975 | $27.2 |
| 1976 | $28.9 |
| 1977 | $28.9 |
| 1978 | $27.9 |
| 1979 | $26.2 |
| 1980 | $26. |
| 1981 | $25.5 |
| 1982 | $24. |
| 1983 | $24.4 |
| 1984 | $24.5 |
| 1985 | $24.6 |
| 1986 | $25.4 |
| 1987 | $25.6 |
| 1988 | $25.3 |
| 1989 | $24.9 |
| 1990 | $25.6 |
| 1991 | $26.5 |
| 1992 | $28. |
| 1993 | $27.4 |
| 1994 | $27.6 |
| 1995 | $26.3 |
| 1996 | $23.7 |
| Total: | $734.3 |
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