$8 trillion spent on Iraq & Afghanistan
Platner estimates the U.S. spent roughly $8 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling it money wasted for nothing.
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Can Graham Platner survive another controversy? | NPR’s Newsmakers
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Jun 1, 2026
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Opposing the Iran War: What He'd Do in the Senate
At 39:00 · chapter starts 36:25
Fadel asks what Platner would be doing in the Senate right now if he were there. His answer is immediate: blocking every dollar of funding for the Iran war. He'd work with Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic opponents, and with Republicans like Rand Paul who share anti-interventionist views. His broader framing of American military force is sweeping and deeply personal: the U.S. military's purpose should be defending the country and the interests of the American people — not enriching defense contractors or giving politicians a nationalism-wrapped shield for bad domestic policy. He looks back at Iraq and Afghanistan and sees the same pattern: $8 trillion, immense suffering, destroyed nations, and the main beneficiaries were not the infantry. The people who got rich weren't the ones doing the dying. He is equally clear that the Iran war fits this template exactly — and that the possible peace deal may simply restore the pre-war status quo at the cost of $50 billion and 13 American lives.
$8 Trillion for Nothing: The Real Cost of Iraq and Afghanistan
$8 trillion added to the national debt, immeasurable suffering, destroyed nations — and for what? Platner says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan enriched defense contractors and gave politicians a nationalistic shield for bad domestic policy. The people who paid were the infantry and foreign civilians.
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