Conservative Hawks, the Republican Party, Started the $2 Trillion Take Down of Bin Laden. Grunt...War Good, War Costly.

Way back when, some researchers estimated the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would cost us around $2 trillion to $3 trillion, which many thought was wildly exaggerated.  It included not only soldier pay, the occupation and equipment, but also the 30 to 40 year medical cost of taking care of wounded veterans.

Welcome to another report:

Moneynews: Even in death Osama bin Laden will be taking revenge on American taxpayers for years to come. 

The U.S. government spent $2 trillion combating bin Laden over the past decade, more than 20 percent of the nation’s $9.68 trillion public debt. That money paid for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as additional military, intelligence and homeland security spending above pre-Sept. 11 trends, according to a Bloomberg analysis. 

This year alone, taxpayers are spending more than $45 billion in interest on the money borrowed to battle al-Qaida, the analysis shows. 

The financial bleeding won’t stop with bin Laden’s demise. One of every four dollars in red ink the U.S. expects to incur in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will result from $285 billion in annual spending triggered by the terrorist scion of a wealthy Saudi family. 

Without bin Laden, “we would have accumulated less debt, be spending less on interest and we would be on a lower spending path going forward,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a research organization in Washington.