OCO Burn Rate: $11B Month

The monthly tab for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is running about $11 billion, a sum that is 11 percent below last year's $12.3 billion average, but could still climb as U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan climb, according to a new analysis of war costs by the Congressional Research Service.

Amy Belasco, a defense budget expert at CRS, calculates that the burn rate for operations through April -- seven months into fiscal year 2010 -- were $5.4 billion for Iraq and $5.5 billion for Afghanistan, in a July 16 report, "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11." The report notes:

Congress is currently considering the FY2010 Supplemental request for an additional $36.6 billion for DOD and the State Department, largely to cover the cost of deploying 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan that President Obama announced on December 1, 2009. Most recently, the House adopted an amended version on June 30th and the Senate passed its version on May 27th, 2010. Instead of a formal conference, the Senate is expected to revise the House version and send it back to the House, in a “ping pong” process, sometime in July.

If the pending FY2010 supplemental request is enacted, cumulative war costs would total $1.1 trillion including $751 billion for Iraq, $336 billion for Afghanistan, and $29 billion for enhanced security. By FY2010, Afghanistan would account for about two-thirds of the cost and Iraq one-third, a reversal of the previous year.