Michael Abrahams | The cost of war

On February 28, the US and Israel began an assault, Operation Epic Fury, on Iran. During the first week of hostilities, bombs and missiles landed in 12 countries: Iran, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Cyprus, Oman, Iraq and Jordan. Military activity and interceptions had also occurred in Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan, and a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. In addition to the US, its allies, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Greece have also become involved. At least 20 countries are now associated with the conflict.

When a war is taking place thousands of miles away, many of us are detached. We have become desensitised after being exposed to graphic images of casualties in social media, and the glorification of war in fashion, movies and video games. For instance, the market for “camo”, or camouflage fashion, was $5.3 billion in 2022. Top Gun: Maverick (a film based on characters in the US Navy) is the 15th biggest-grossing film of all time, raking in roughly $1.5 billion. And Call of Duty, a military video game series, is the third best-selling video game franchise, with over 500 million copies sold and approximately 100 million monthly active users.

But there is a huge cost to war, and the enormity of it is greater than many realise, leaving legacies and trauma that last for generations. The loss of life and injuries are inevitable. In the first week of hostilities in this war, 1,332 people were reported dead in Iran, at least 11 in Israel, nine in Gulf states and six US soldiers were killed. Casualties also included people from other nations. Among the deaths in Israel was a Filipino, and in the Emirates, Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationals were killed, and it has been reported that Emirati, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese and Afghan nationals have been injured there as well.

The reported casualty figures in wars do not tell the full story, as the number of people who die “indirectly” from wars often exceeds those who perish during the conflicts. For instance, according to the Costs of War project at Brown University, over 940,000 people were killed by direct post-9/11 war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001 and 2023, with more than 432,000 being civilians. However, the number of civilians who died “indirectly” is estimated to be roughly 3.6-3.8 million.

INDIRECTLY

Death and disability occur indirectly because of the destruction of economies, healthcare systems, infrastructure and the environment, and displacement, which lead to food insecurity and malnutrition, unemployment, homelessness, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, and maternal and newborn complications. Refugees often face many difficulties, including fear of deportation from the countries they fled to, difficulty in renewing visas, the denial of civil rights and services, xenophobia and racism. Human rights and civil liberty violations are not uncommon in war, and include practices such as detention without trial, physical and psychological abuse, torture, labour abuses, expanded surveillance and militarised policing.

Mental health challenges and behavioural issues are also common and may be more prevalent in veterans. For instance, research in the US has found that compared with the civilian population, war veterans face elevated rates of mental health problems, drug and alcohol dependence, car crashes, homelessness, divorce, homicide, child abuse and child neglect by parents. Also, at least four times as many US service members and veterans of the post-9/11 wars died by suicide than in combat. Sexual assault remains an issue in the military, too. For instance, over the course of the war in Afghanistan (2001-2021), 24 per cent of US women service members and 1.9 per cent of men experienced sexual assault.

The economic cost of war is astronomically high. The 20-year war in Afghanistan cost the United States an estimated $2.3 trillion. According to a Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the war in Iran is estimated to have cost Washington $3.7 billion in its first 100 hours and is costing about $891.4 million per day. In the two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the US government has spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel. The US has also spent $260 billion a year on military countermeasures against China since 2012. And private firms profit significantly from war. For example, from 2020 to 2024, private firms received $2.4 trillion in Pentagon contracts.

VETERANS

The costs also include caring for veterans. In the US, over 1.8 million veterans have some degree of disability as a result of the wars, and it has been estimated that the economic costs of caring for post-9/11 war vets, who account for more than half of the severely disabled veteran population, will reach between $2.2 and $2.5 trillion by 2050. Unsurprisingly, the cost of rebuilding war-torn areas is massive as well. It has been estimated that Gaza’s reconstruction will cost $70 billion, and Ukraine’s recovery will cost over $588 billion over the next decade.

There is also an environmental cost. Wars and military operations contribute to climate change. Military jets and vehicles produce tons of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Bombs and other munitions contain toxic substances, including heavy metals, white phosphorus, uranium, and dioxin, that cause injuries and contaminate soil, water, and air. Explosive weapons destroy buildings, generating debris and releasing hazardous materials such as asbestos, industrial chemicals, and fuels. The destruction of water supplies and sanitation facilities leads to pollution from sewage and solid waste, which can cause infectious disease outbreaks. Ecosystems are adversely affected. And unexploded devices injure and kill people years after the fighting has ceased.

The human, economic, environmental and other costs of war are immeasurable. Unfortunately, man has been waging war for millennia, and there is no evidence that we will stop this horrific activity any time soon.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams