Afghan War Costs US $3.6B Per Month

Dems don't want to pony up for Obama's plan

(NEWSER) - Getting Congress to fund Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy might be as arduous a process as the strategic review that devised it. Democrats, cold to the idea of sending more troops, don’t want to foot the bill; some are proposing a war tax to cover it. “If the president intends to go in over our objections,” explains Rep. Mike Honda, “he should have to bear the burden of asking for a tax to pay for it.” More»

High long-term costs a big factor in debate

(NEWSER) - When President Obama rejected advisers' recommendations on Afghan troops and insisted they be retooled with exit strategies, he had the war's long-term financial costs in mind, an insider tells the New York Times . While military strategy gets the headlines, the financial constraints also are weighing heavily. Some specfics:

• Gen. McChyrstal's preferred option of adding 40,000 troops would cost $40 billion to $54 billion per year.

Gen. John Allen reads Sgt. William Stacey's reasons for fighting

(NEWSER) - US troops in Afghanistan marked Memorial Day with the words of a fallen comrade—one of at least 1,851 Americans to have died in the war. Marine Gen. John Allen, the leading US commander in Afghanistan, read a letter penned by Marine Sgt. William Stacey, killed by homemade explosives in January at age 23. The letter to Stacey's family reflected on his reasons for fighting in case he died. More»

Wayward strike further strains Afghan relations

(NEWSER) - A family of eight was killed in a coalition airstrike in eastern Afghanistan late last night, in the latest strain on US-Afghanistan relations, reports al-Jazeera . Local government officials said the man, his wife, and their six children were not affiliated with any anti-government group. "This man had no connection to the Taliban or any other terrorist group," said an official. A coalition spokesman said they were looking into the incident. More»

President Obama: Afghanistan will never be 'perfect'

(AP) - President Obama and leaders around the globe locked in place an Afghanistan exit path today that will still keep their troops fighting and dying there for two more years, acknowledging there never will be point at which they can say, "This is all done." Obama, presiding over a 50-nation war coalition summit in his hometown, summed up the mood by saying the Afghanistan that will be left behind will be stable enough for them to depart—essentially good enough after a decade of war—but still loaded with troubles. More»