Defeating and Destroying the Islamic State: What the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Can Tell Us

	Afghanistan	Iraq	Iraq & Syria
U.S. Goal	Defeat & destroy al Qaida	Eliminate Iraqi WMD, “central front on war on terror”	Defeat & destroy Islamic State
Date U.S. initiated operations	October 2001	March 2003	August 2014
Name of operation	Enduring Freedom	Iraqi Freedom	Inherent Resolve
# countries in coalition	50	34	62
# global terror attacks the year U.S. initiated operations	1,878	1,253	11,952¹
# global terror attacks 5 years after U.S. initiated operations	2,728	4,780	TBD
# global terror attacks 10 years after U.S. initiated operations	5,007	11,952	TBD
White House assessment at +3 months	“Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun”	mission accomplished “Iraq is free”	“We are making steady, measurable progress”
White House assessment at +5 years	“We have significantly degraded the al–Qaida network” “The success of democracy in Afghanistan is inspiring”	“We have seen significant security gains…Less visible are the political and economic changes taking place…This progress isn’t glamorous, but it is important”	TBD
White House assessment at +10 years	“We are meeting our goals…the light of a secure peace can be seen in the distance”	“We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq”	TBD
Cost: U.S. deaths	2,353	4,486	TBD
Cost: $	$686 billion²	$815 billion³	$5.6 billion⁴

Notes:

Numbers are for 2013, 2014 not yet available.
Does not account for future costs, such as FY15 funding or medical care for veterans.
Does not account for future costs, such as medical care for veterans.
Represents budget request for FY15.

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