How much has Britain spent on military interventions in two decades?

Britain has spent more than �33bn on military campaigns overseas over the last 20 years according to the government?s own data ? with the vast majority of that money spent on the Afghan intervention.

The debate over what to do in Syria in recent weeks has focused mainly on the human and political costs: both of intervening and not intervening. More than 600 British troops have died during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Advocates of action have argued that it would have saved countless Syrian lives.

But with Britain in the grip of fiscal ?austerity? ? and more spending cuts seen as inevitable in the coming years ? the cost of further military actions would be relevant.

The public have been consistently opposed to Syrian intervention, with fewer than one in five voters believing Britain should join the US in strikes according to ICM.

David Cameron, in the August 29 Syria debate, said he was aware of the ?deep public scepticism? about war, saying it was ?linked to the difficult economic times people have had to deal with.?

Ministers have never put any figure on how much an intervention in Syria might have cost. Past guidance by governments on military action have often been an under-estimate.

Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, says there is usually a ?conspiracy of optimism?

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Source: http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2013/09/how-much-has-britain-spent-on-military-interventions-in-recent-years/

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