Updates from the Afghanistan Study Group Afghanistan Weekly Reader: Despite Panetta's Comment, Afghanistan War Budget for 2013 is $90 Billion

The US has spent around $86 billion on Afghanistan reconstruction efforts since 2002, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The majority of these funds, some $52 billion, is for training and equipping the Afghan security forces. The remaining $34 billion goes towards governance and development, counternarcotics efforts, and humanitarian aid.
What does $86 billion buy? Not much, it seems. A SIGAR auditor estimates that only 15% of US aid to Afghanistan makes it to the intended recipients. A whopping 70% - over $60 billion - is eaten up by overhead costs. The remaining $13 billion is lost to waste and corruption.
Ten years of war point to one thing: it’s time to rethink our Afghanistan policy. An effective strategy doesn’t have to be a costly strategy.
From ASG
2/22/12
Tracking Hidden War Costs
Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski
The Department of Defense war funding request for 2013 is $88.5 billion. But war costs hidden in the rest of the federal budget true costs of war are hidden
ARTICLES
2/20/12
The Real Defense Budget
The Atlantic by Steve Clemons
While everyone knows that the defense budget is large -- even in the numbers that the public sees as the formally admitted figures by the Department of Defense -- the truth is that when one scratches beneath the bureaucratic veneer, national security spending is much larger, nearly double the amount US citizens are told.
2/21/12
War Funding Request Denotes 68,000 Troops Through Late 2013
FCNL by Matt Southworth
Looking at the fiscal year 2013 war funding request, you might think war is getting less expensive. Not quite. Funding overall is on the decline, yes, but the war in Afghanistan still costs $1 million per soldier, per year.
OPINION
2/19/12
U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014
Washington Post by Ronald E. Neumann
The strategy of transition asks our commanders for large measures of resolve, discipline and courage. They have every right to expect clarity and resolve from their political leaders. President Obama needs to explain his strategy to Americans, not talk only about withdrawal dates.
2/21/12
U.S. Should Consider an Earlier Exit From Afghanistan
Bloomberg Editorial
Over the last decade the U.S. has made an enduring point: Any nation that allows a terrorist attack on the U.S. from its soil faces a response that will be swift, brutal and relentless. Isn’t that enough?
2/24/12
Why we need to get out of Afghanistan — now
Chicago Tribune by Mark Doyle
Many are criticizing the Obama administration's decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan in 2013. They say it is too soon.
I say it is not soon enough. After spending the past year working in Afghanistan trying to account for billions of dollars spent there by U.S. taxpayers, I say why wait another year? Let's bring our military and civilian personnel home — now.