The list of questions surrounding the ongoing war in Iran is not short. At this point, neither Donald Trump nor anyone on his team has explained in a coherent way why the administration launched this offensive, what its objectives are, what the plan is to achieve those goals, whether the war is legal or how long it’s expected to last.
In case that weren’t quite enough, we also don’t know how much this war of choice is costing, though an answer is starting to come into focus. MS NOW reported Thursday as part of the network’s live coverage:
The war with Iran is costing the U.S. an estimated $1 billion a day, according to two congressional sources with knowledge of the matter. Based on that estimate, the U.S. has spent at least $5 billion on the war since it began on Feb. 28. … The estimate was first reported by The Atlantic.
Whether that daily price tag will rise or fall in the near future is the subject of some debate. While it’s true that one MS NOW source said the costs will likely decrease as the U.S. deploys fewer costly interceptor missiles, Politico reported that some congressional Republicans believe the Pentagon is now “spending as much as $2 billion a day on the war.”
To be sure, these are unconfirmed estimates in the opening days of a major military operation, and we’ll need additional clarity. Indeed, Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, has formally requested that the Congressional Budget Office nail down the specific details.
In a written press statement, Boyle concluded: “Taxpayers deserve a nonpartisan estimate of the financial and economic impact of President Trump’s reckless war in Iran that has already led to the tragic deaths of American service members. … American families don’t want billions of dollars wasted on an unnecessary war — they want lower costs and affordable health care.”
Time will tell what the CBO finds, but the lawmaker’s political observation was notable in large part because it reflected his party’s messaging strategy. Indeed, consider what House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference on Thursday:
We’ve seen Republicans, led by Donald Trump, plunging America into another endless conflict in the Middle East, spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran, but they can’t find a dime to make it more affordable for the American people to go see a doctor when they need one. Can’t find a dime to make it easier for Americans who are working hard to purchase their first home. And they can’t find a dime to lower the grocery bills of the American people.
As the president and his White House team prepare to go to Congress to ask for more money to cover the cost of the war, it’s a safe bet that the public will be hearing a lot of rhetoric like Jeffries’ in the coming days, weeks and months.
