Methodological Note
Inflation adjustment: All monetary figures in this report are expressed in constant 2024 U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Historical dollar amounts were adjusted using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation Calculator.
References grouped by topic can be found below.
Contents
- Methodological Note
- Core War Costs, Outcomes, and Contractor Revenue
- Oil Markets, Ownership, and Post-Conflict Outcomes
- Casualties and Human Impact
- Veterans Care, Survivor Benefits, and Long-Term Obligations
- Wartime Contracting, Fraud, and Oversight
- Legal Authority, War Authorization, and Expansion
- Opportunity Costs and Foregone Domestic Investment
- Political Influence and Extraction Infrastructure
- Regime Change Wars: The Public Ledger — full series navigation
Core War Costs, Outcomes, and Contractor Revenue
- Costs of War Project. The costs of war: economic, human, and budgetary costs of post-9/11 wars. Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; 2023\. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar
- Costs of War Project. Contractor spending and defense budgets since 2001\. Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; 2023\. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar
Oil Markets, Ownership, and Post-Conflict Outcomes
- U.S. Energy Information Administration. International energy data and analysis: country analysis briefs. https://www.eia.gov/international/
- U.S. Government Accountability Office. Stabilizing Iraq’s oil sector. U.S. Government Accountability Office; 2008\. Report No. GAO-08-628. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-08-628.pdf
- World Bank; United Nations. Joint Iraq needs assessment. United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq; 2003\. https://www.uniraq.org/images/stories/docs/Joint%20Iraq%20Needs%20Assessment.pdf
Casualties and Human Impact
- Defense Casualty Analysis System. U.S. military casualties: Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Department of Defense. https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/conflictCasualties/oif/index
- Iraq Body Count. Iraqi deaths from violence 2003–2011. https://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/2011/
- United Nations Human Rights Council; Human Rights Watch. Libya 2011 conflict documentation. https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/libya
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Operation Unified Protector: final mission statistics. NATO; 2011\. https://www.nato.int/nato\static\fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf\2011\11/20111101\111101-factsheet\up\factsfigures\en.pdf
Veterans Care, Survivor Benefits, and Long-Term Obligations
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. FY2024 budget in brief. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; 2023\. https://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/fy2024-va-budget-in-brief.pdf
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; U.S. Department of Defense. Survivor benefits and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). https://www.va.gov/family-member-benefits/survivor-dependency-benefits/
Wartime Contracting, Fraud, and Oversight
- Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Transforming wartime contracting: controlling costs, reducing risks. Final report to Congress; 2011\. https://www.govinfo.gov
- Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. High-risk reconstruction and waste reports. SIGAR; 2014–2021. https://www.sigar.mil
- U.S. Government Accountability Office. Defense contracting: cost-reimbursement trends and award-fee outcomes. U.S. Government Accountability Office; various reports.
- U.S. Congress. Authorization for Use of Military Force. Pub L No. 107-40; 2001\.
- Congressional Research Service. The 2001 and 2002 AUMFs: scope, duration, and associated forces. Congressional Research Service.
- Congressional Research Service. Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO): background and budgetary treatment. Congressional Research Service.
- National Security Archive (George Washington University). Libya intervention and War Powers Resolution compliance. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu
Opportunity Costs and Foregone Domestic Investment
- American Society of Civil Engineers. 2021 infrastructure report card. American Society of Civil Engineers; 2021\. https://infrastructurereportcard.org/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking water infrastructure needs survey and assessment. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 2021\. https://www.epa.gov/drinkingwater/dwsrf-needs-survey
- U.S. High Speed Rail Association. High-speed rail network cost estimates. https://www.ushighspeedrail.org/
- College Board. Trends in college pricing and financial aid 2024\. College Board; 2024\. https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing
- Kaiser Family Foundation. Medicaid expansion and cost estimates. Kaiser Family Foundation; 2024\. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/
- National Institutes of Health; National Science Foundation; U.S. Department of Energy. Federal research and development budget authorities. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
Political Influence and Extraction Infrastructure
- OpenSecrets Center for Responsive Politics. Defense sector lobbying, 2001–2022. https://www.opensecrets.org
- Dittany / Red, Blue & Real. The Great Transfer: American government as a wealth extraction machine. https://dittany.com/the-great-transfer-wealth-extraction/
Sources for this article are collected in the Bibliography and Methodology.
Executive Summary — Purpose and findings
https://dittany.com/executive-summary-regime-change-wars/
II. Scope, Definitions, and Accounting Rules
https://dittany.com/ii-scope-definitions-accounting-rules/
III. Promised and Implied: What Would Have Counted
https://dittany.com/iii-the-promise-stated-and-implied/
IV. Case Studies
https://dittany.com/iv-case-studies/
V. Long-Term Costs
https://dittany.com/v-long-term-costs/
VI. Opportunity Costs
https://dittany.com/vi-opportunity-costs/
VII. Distribution of Benefits
https://dittany.com/vii-distribution-of-benefits/
VIII. Why the Pattern Repeats
https://dittany.com/viii-why-the-pattern-repeats/
IX. The Public Ledger
https://dittany.com/ix-the-public-ledger/
Bibliography — Sources and Methodology – this page