Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Afghanistan by the numbers

TomDispatch has a good article gathering a lot of numbers on the costs of the Afghanistan war. For example:
Total funds for U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan, 2002-2009: $228.2 billion.
Percentage of U.S. funding in Afghanistan that has gone for military purposes: Nearly 90%.

Number of U.S. prisons and holding centers: approximately 36 "overcrowded and often violent sites" with 15,000 detainees.

Number of U.S. bases: at least 74 in northern Afghanistan alone, with more being built. (The total number of U.S. bases in Afghanistan seems not to be available.)

Number of military contractors hired by the Pentagon in Afghanistan by the end of June 2009: Almost 74,000, nearly two-thirds of them local hires, a 9% rise over the previous three months.

Percentage of the Pentagon's force in Afghanistan made up of contractors in March 2009: 57%.

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