3 years later, Iraq war's true cost continues to grow

WASHINGTON - Three years after President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq, the toll on Iraq and the United States is far beyond anything the administration prepared Americans for in the lead-up to the March 19, 2003, invasion.

According to Pentagon figures, 2,310 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the launch of the invasion. Another 17,124 American troops have been wounded. The figures do not include American civilians killed or wounded in Iraq while working for the U.S. government, private businesses and non-governmental aid organizations. A London-based human rights group estimates that at least 33,638 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of the war and up to 37,754 may have died, based on independent tabulation of deaths confirmed in media reports...

Americans have spent $250 billion on military operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, a war that is currently costing the Pentagon roughly $6 billion a month, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. This spending does not include so-called fixed costs that are part of Pentagon spending — such as pay for the troops — but accounts for only the direct war costs, such as bonus pay for combat operations, as well as fuel, munitions and other war-related expenses.

The war's true price tag, however, will include expenses not included in this reckoning, particularly the long-term costs of providing lifetime health care to soldiers wounded in the war or suffering from mental health issues related to the conflict, recurring expenses certain to range in the billions of dollars per year. Nor do these costs include the interest on the additional debt incurred to finance the war...

Billions of dollars in tanks, aircraft, communications gear and other military equipment has been worn out, destroyed or given to new Iraqi forces during the conflict. The National Guard, for example, has just one-third of the equipment needed to meet requirements for its core mission: homeland security. Some replacement funds are included in the Pentagon's current spending. But military officials say billions in additional spending will be needed to bring inventories of critical gear back up to pre-war levels...