War against ISIS costs $10 million per day, $400K per successful strike
The $3.7 billion in expenses cover the campaign from August 8, 2014 up to August 15 of this year.
President Obama authorized a bombing campaign against the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL) last year, sending 3,400 American soldiers to Iraq to advise and train Iraqi forces.
photo/Islamic State flag
US and its coalition allies say they have conducted a total of over 6,000 airstrikes in the region. Of those strikes, nearly 4,000 have been made in Iraq and nearly 2,500 in Syria.
Pentagon statistics claim those strikes have damaged or destroyed more than 10,000 targets, including tanks, Humvees, staging areas, and oil infrastructure. If the total cost of the campaign to date is calculated based on actual damage, those strikes cost an estimated $400,000 per successful hit.
Marine Corps Brigadier General Kevin J. Killea, chief of staff for Operation Inherent Resolve, said the campaign has made progress.
“This is not the same fight as it was when it started, and I look at that based on the effects that we have had on ISIL,” Killea told reporters in July.
“They are much more territorial, meaning they’re defending more than they’re on the offensive. Their attacks are smaller, they are more focused, and they’re less enduring.”
“All you have to do is look at the gains that have been made on the ground recently to see that there is an effect, and there is progress,” he added.
The cost of the campaign against IS has been released as the Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating allegations by a Department of Defense whistleblower that intelligence regarding the success of the campaign was altered, according to a report published in the New York Times.
