America’s longest war, which began shortly after 9/11 and lasted more than two decades, killed tens of thousands, dogged four presidents and was ultimately unwinnable despite the staggering cost in dollars and even greater cost in human lives. Joe Biden’s promise to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has prompted an accounting of what has been lost and how much has been spent in the war.

We take a look at the spiraling costs of America’s campaign – the bloodshed, the wasted money. What is the total amount of money spent? According to the Cost of Combat Project at Brown University, the American war effort in Afghanistan has cost $2 trillion over the last two decades.

That's more than $300 million every day, every day, for the past two decades. The Department of Defense spent about $1 trillion of its total budget on overseas contingency operations.


How much does it cost in terms of human lives? Since the US entered Afghanistan to eliminate the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, an estimated 241,000 people have died as a direct result of the war. Hundreds of thousands more have perished as a result of the horrific war, both directly and indirectly. Western allies have also paid a tremendous price in terms of human lives. On both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border, an estimated 71,344 civilians were killed. There were also 78,314 police officers and personnel of the national armed forces.