$ 600 BN and 100k lives lost in war on terrorism

The "War on terror", which had an important role in Romania's accession to NATO and the development of the Romanian - US relationship proves to be more expensive than expected.

USA costs in the war against Irak and Afghanistan rise up 12 billion USD montly, Detroit Free Press reads, quoting a Congress report on Tusday. Since 9/11, USA spent in the war against terrorism more than 600 billion USD. Over 100,000 lives were lost, the same source informs.

USA spends monthly more than 10 billion euro in Iraq while costs for Afghanistan are just 2 billion euro. For the 2007 financial year, the US Congress allocated financing to the Pentagon of over 166 billion euro, 40% more than last year.

Romania deployed troops both in Iraq and Afghanistan and even though a recent NATO report negatively reviewed Romanian logistics and their long term sustainability, the cooperation is unanimously greeted.

Still, on the internal political scene, there is a constant debate between the prime minister Tariceanu and President Basescu on whether to maintain the troops in the field or retrieve them.

HotNews.ro, Jul 10, 2007