Fact Sheet: State Budget Shortfalls and the U.S. War in Afghanistan

According to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the total cost of each U.S. soldier currently stationed in Afghanistan runs about $1.2 million per year — which is to say, for every soldier withdrawn from the country, the taxpayers could recover $1.2 million.

With nearly every U.S. state facing budget shortfalls for FY 2012, here’s an excellent look at how bringing those soldiers home — along with the war dollars paying for them — would immediately free up the funds necessary to close these gaps, which would eliminate the pressure to cut public services.

State Shortfalls and the War in Afghanistan