Cost Benefit Analysis on "War on Terror"

While many have breathed a sign of relief at the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of US special forces, the economic balance sheet he leaves behind is sobering. According to several analyses, the terrorist leader cost the US at least $3 trillion (2.11 trillion euros) when the wars, heightened security and disruptions to the US economy caused by the attacks he engineered are taken into account.

That dollar figure doesn't reveal a further disheartening aspect of the war on terror, namely, that the silver lining that can result from even the most horrific conflict in the form of technological development or economic advancement is largely absent in the case of the al Qaeda leader. The US has invested a great deal in the fight against him and his movement, and the return has been very weak.

"There has been no peace dividend from bin Laden's death," Chris Yates, an independent security analyst based in the UK, told Deutsche Welle. "A few US companies got rich very quickly, but otherwise the yield has been very slim."


Some reports say the Iraq war alone cost the US $3 trillion

In fact, one might concluded that bin Laden got what he was after, at least partly. In 2004, he compared the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Afghan adventure that helped break the Soviet Union.

"We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," bin Laden said in a taped statement.