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How much did the Gulf War cost the US?
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How much did the Gulf War cost the US

How much did the US pay for the Gulf War above and beyond the yearly cost for supporting its military? The US Department of Defense estimated the incremental cost at $61 billion. This additional cost included deployment, construction and operations in the Gulf. However, $54 billion was offset by contributions of other members in the Coalition. Two-thirds of the $54 billion was provided by the Gulf States ($36 billion) with the remaining one-third mostly provided by Japan and Germany ($16 billion).

Non-US contributions Desert Shield/Storm as of March, 1992

Notes on the graph:

  • Payments were made in one of two ways: with financial assets ("Cash") and with services such as sealift and airlift ("In-Kind")
  • As of March 1992, there was a shortfall in receipts compared with commitments. The total amount committed was $54 billion but only $52.9 billion had been received. The shortfall was $1.1 billion.
  • Saudi Arabia provided the US Military with fuel, food, water, local transportation and facilities, accounting for the "In-Kind" assistance. This accounted for 25% of the Saudi commitment to the US Military presence and was 71% of all "In-Kind" contributions.
  • The US paid roughly $7 billion, less than 12% of the total US cost and less than half what Saudi Arabia and Kuwait paid.

Why is the cost of the Gulf War to the US and how the US paid for the war, interesting?

  • Along with the large scale engagement of international forces (the US had over 500,000 troops while non-US Coalition forces were roughly 160,000 or roughly 24% of all forces), the large international contributions to defer the cost of the war for the US deployment provides an indication of how deep international support for that war was, at least amoung those countries wealthy enough to provide the contributions.

  • In the end, the war cost the US only $7 billion, less than 12% of what the war might have cost the US. Could the US have prosecuted the war so quickly and forcefully without strong international support? This is an economic as well as a political question. Did the US have the political will to fight such a war without the substantial international support? Given the current disinclination in the US to support international activities, this is an especially important question.

  • How might those that paid for the US operation have affected that operation? The advantage of working in a large coalition is that there are more resources and more political capital to accomplish a given end. The problems associated with a large coalition are the compromises and constraints that must be adhered to so as to maintain that coalition. While there was general agreement that Iraq should be removed from Kuwait, there was less consensus that Iraq should be invaded and the Iraqi government replaced.

    Information taken from Conduct of the Persian Gulf War , The Final Report to the US Congress by the US Department of Defense; April 1992; Appendix P.

    Fred Horan / fh10@cornell.edu
    Last modified: May 20, 1997