First of all, president Obama made promise yesterday to US troops. He says he won’t get them involved in another ground war in Iraq. Several hundred service men and women are in the region. Their missions include launching air strikes against the ISIS terrorist group, gathering intelligence about ISIS and training and helping Iraqi forces fight ISIS. The Obama administration says the US troops themselves will not go in the combat. But the nation’s highest-ranking military advisor says if he thinks US troops should get involved he’ll recommend it to the president. While some law makers have questions about the roles of US troops in Iraq. There is another issue to be considered is that the US leads the way fighting ISIS—money.

 

The bill for military operation in Iraq keeps rising. On August 29th, the Pentagon said the mission has cost 7.5 million US dollars a day- a relatively tiny sum compared to the billion spent in Iraq during our last campaign in that country. But what started as an effort to protect the American interest in Iraq from Sunni militants is now turning into something much bigger. The US has completed over a hundred and fifty air strikes that started in August. And since the Pentagon released the daily reverage spending figure, president Obama authorized additional military personnel twice. He also opened up the possibility of air strikes outside of Iraq. “we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. I mean I will not hesitate to take action against ISIS in Syria as well as in Iraq”  

 

On top of that, the president is hoping the Congress will authorize 5 hundred million dollar request made in June for training and equipping the rebels in Syria to fight ISIS.

Currently the US is financing involvement in Iraq through an 85 billion dollar allocation in the Pentagons overseas contingency operation now. That money has been financing troop draw down in Afghanistan and other activities in the region. And the president says he does not need extra authorization from Congress.

 

To be sure, the strategy of US involvement in Iraq today is very different than during operation in Iraq for freedom from 2003 to 2011. For one, at its peak, there were more than a hundred and fifty thousand troops on the ground that needed housing, logistical support and supplies. And estimated price for that war by the congressional research service is 806 billion dollars. And that doesn’t include interest on the debt to fund the war or billions more for continuing veteran care. It’s important to remember it wasn’t expected to cost that much. In October 2003, six months after the operation began, the CBO estimated Iraq would cost 85 to 200 billion dollars through 2013. Estimates were way off.

 

With Obama’s latest announcement the US military will have approximately 1500 personnel in Iraq. Now more people means more money, so we will have to see how high the figures go from here.