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IPFS News Link • Government Debt & Financing

U.S. Has Spent $2.8 Trillion on Terrorism Fight, Study Finds

• wsj.com By Jessica Donati

The U.S. has spent as much as $2.8 trillion on the fight against terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a study published Wednesday.

The report from the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank said the figure included spending on the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, in addition to homeland-security efforts and overseas programs. Spending on counterterrorism reached a peak of $260 billion in 2008, accounting for more than a fifth of the government's discretionary budget.

The report said the U.S. lacked a system for accounting for spending on counterterrorism and that loopholes have increasingly allowed billions to be spent on items that shouldn't qualify for emergency funding.


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