US Wars Since 9/11: Costs, Countries Bombed & Rising Toll

The Expanding Footprint of US Military Intervention Since 2001

Despite promising to conclude United States involvement in costly and destructive foreign wars, President Donald Trump, together with Israel, has launched a massive military assault on Iran, targeting its leadership and nuclear and missile infrastructure. This action underscores a continuing pattern of US military intervention that has spanned decades and numerous administrations.

Much like his predecessors, Trump has relied on military force to pursue US strategic interests, continuing a pattern that has defined US foreign policy for more than two decades. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the US capital, the US has engaged in three full-scale wars and bombed at least 10 countries in operations ranging from drone strikes to invasions, often multiple times within a single year. These interventions have come at a staggering human and financial cost.

The graphic below shows all the countries the US has bombed since 2001. These may not include all military strikes, particularly covert or special operations.

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The Cost of Decades of War

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, President George W Bush launched what he called a “war on terror”, a global military campaign that reshaped US foreign policy and triggered wars, invasions and air strikes across numerous countries.

According to an analysis by Brown University’s Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, US-led wars since 2001 have directly caused the deaths of about 940,000 people across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other conflict zones. This does not include indirect deaths, namely those caused by loss of access to food, healthcare or war-related diseases.

The US has spent an estimated $5.8 trillion funding its more than two decades of conflict. This includes $2.1 trillion spent by the Department of Defense (DOD), $1.1 trillion by Homeland Security, $884bn to increase the DOD base budget, $465bn on veterans’ medical care and an additional $1 trillion in interest payments on loans taken out to fund the wars.

In addition to the $5.8 trillion already spent, the US is expected to have to lay out at least another $2.2 trillion for veterans’ care over the next 30 years. This would bring the total estimated cost of US wars since 2001 to $8 trillion.

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Afghanistan: A Twenty-Year War

The first and most direct response to 9/11 was the invasion of Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power. On October 7, 2001, the US launched Operation Enduring Freedom. The initial invasion succeeded in toppling the Taliban regime within just a few weeks. Though, armed resistance groups mounted a prolonged resistance against US and coalition forces.

The war went on to become the longest conflict in US history, spanning four presidencies and lasting 20 years until the final withdrawal in 2021, after which the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. An estimated 241,000 people died as a direct result of the war, according to an analysis from Brown University’s Costs of War project. Hundreds of thousands more people, mostly civilians, died due to hunger, disease and injuries caused by the war.

At least 3,586 soldiers from the US and its NATO allies were killed in the war, which is estimated to have cost $2.26 trillion for the US, according to the Cost of War project.

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The Iraq War and its Aftermath (2003-2011)

On March 20, 2003, President Bush launched a second war, this time in Iraq, claiming that President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction – a claim that proved to be false. On May 1, 2003, Bush declared “mission accomplished” and the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

However, the subsequent years were defined by violence from armed groups and a power vacuum that fuelled the rise of ISIL (ISIS). In 2008, Bush agreed to withdraw US combat troops, a process completed in 2011 under President Barack Obama.

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Expanding the Battlefield: Drone Warfare and Beyond

Beyond the large-scale conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has also engaged in more diffuse military operations. Beginning in the mid-2000s, the CIA launched drone strikes inside Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border, targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban figures. These strikes marked the early expansion of remote warfare.

Obama dramatically expanded the drone strikes in Pakistan, particularly in the early years of his presidency. At the same time, US forces carried out air strikes in Somalia against suspected al-Qaeda affiliates, later targeting fighters linked to al-Shabab. In Yemen, US forces conducted missile and drone strikes against al-Qaeda leaders.

The US also intervened in Libya in 2011, joining a NATO-led intervention during an uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. American forces launched air and missile strikes to enforce a no-fly zone, contributing to Gaddafi’s overthrow and the subsequent instability in the country.

Finally, from 2014 onwards, the US intervened in the Syrian war with the stated goal of defeating ISIL, conducting sustained air strikes and supporting local partner forces. In Iraq, US forces advised Iraqi troops, fought ISIL remnants and attempted to counter Iranian influence.

The recent strikes in Iran, authorized by President Trump, represent the latest chapter in this ongoing story of US military intervention abroad. The long-term consequences of these actions, both in terms of human cost and geopolitical impact, remain to be seen. You can find more information about the costs of war at the Brown University Watson Institute: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/. For further reporting on the Israel-Iran conflict, observe coverage from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/israel-us-attack-iran-trump-says-major-combat-operations/. And for additional context, the BBC provides ongoing coverage: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70n9wlkx3lo.