Costing Out the Campaign against ISIS

November 6, 2014

The National Security Network and the London Center for Policy Research cohosted a briefing on “Costing Out the Campaign against ISIS” for Hill staffers on November 6th. The briefing featured a panel that included Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (ret)., Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow for Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and was moderated by NSN Senior Advisor, Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (ret.)

Harrison illuminated Hill staffers to the current costs of the military campaign waged against ISIS and the breakdown of potential increases in cost due to a variety of changes in operational tempo. Shaffer highlighted that the Overseas Contingency Operations account or “OCO,” which has funded the wars in  Afghanistan and Iraq, had more than enough money to cover the costs of the ISIS campaign, even at the highest cost of operational tempo of $22 billion a year.