A recent report by the American Progress Center revealed shocking numbers that reflect the high cost of… Military operations launched by the administration of President Donald Trump in The Middle Eastas American taxpayers incurred more than $5 billion during just the first days of the outbreak of confrontations.
General Dan Kean, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the first day alone witnessed the alert of more than 100 aircraft and the bombing of more than 1,000 targets with advanced Tomahawk missiles, putting the defense budget under enormous pressure in record time.
Details of military spending items and material losses, according to the report, are as follows:
Total cost of operations in the first days: exceeds $5 billion.
Cost of direct combat operations (Brown University estimate): $4 billion.
Burdens of repositioning forces before the war: $630 million.
The value of the loss of 3 F-15 fighters on March 2: $351 million.
Operating expenses for two groups of aircraft carriers: $18 million per day.
The cost of one Tomahawk missile: $2.2 million.
Spending paradoxes between ammunition and social services
The report made a sharp comparison between military spending and urgent social needs, explaining that the cost of one Tomahawk missile is enough to cover health insurance for about 775 children under the Medicaid program for an entire year.
Analysts also pointed out that the total amount spent in less than a week was sufficient to fund the food aid program “SNAP” for more than two million American citizens for a full year, which raises questions within political circles about the priorities of the current administration in light of the mounting financial deficit.
Continuous attrition as the conflict expands
As the intensive air sorties continue, operational costs continue to rise without taking into account the value of the ammunition consumed daily, which puts additional pressure on the financial markets and the US currency.
American Progress experts believe that this bill, which is likely to double, will inevitably affect internal development plans, especially with the disruption of supply chains and the rise in global energy prices as a result of the war, which makes the American economy’s resilience to these successive shocks a real test in the coming months.
