Nearly $1 Billion Already Spent on US Campaign Against ISIL: CSBA Report

Local Editor

The United States has likely spent between $780 million and $930 million in its military campaign against the so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] militant group so far, and it will likely cost between $200 million and $320 million per month going forward if conducted with about 2,000 US service members on the ground, according to a new report published on Monday.

Those costs would grow to between $350 million and $570 million per month if the pace of the airstrikes increases and 5,000 US troops are deployed, according to the report, released by the independent Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

In addition to the airstrikes, the US Navy also has launched at least 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles, which each cost more than $1 million, into Syria.

Airstrikes have been conducted thus far by fighter jets, "attack aircraft" like the AC-130 gunship, drones and the B-1B bomber. At this point, the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps all have played a hand.

Furthermore, there are believed to be more than 1,000 US service members on the ground - many of them Special Operations troops - and the US is preparing to deploy a 500-soldier headquarters to Iraq from the US Army's 1st Infantry Division, of Fort Riley, Kan.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team