NSA's Bulk Collection Failing, and the Price of War

 I. NSA's Bulk Collection Failing

194M - Average number of text messages the NSA collected per day in April 2011.

O - Number of terrorist attacks the government could prove were prevented by the NSA's bulk collection of phone records, according to a recent court ruling.

18k - Minimum number of Facebook users whose private data was given to law enforcement in the last half of 2012.

100 - Radius in miles from New York City within which every mosque experienced government  surveillance after 9/11.

$100k - Amount government informants can earn per job excluding "performance" bonuses.

357% - Percentage by which terrorist attacks committed by Muslims receive more media coverage from attacks by non-Muslims.

$3.8b - Budget for the FBI's counterterrorism and counterintelligence units. (Source: Jarod Facundo, "By the Numbers," The Nation, September 2021.)

II. The Price of War

Post-9/11 war-related spending, 2001-2022, plus the projected cost of future veterans' care in current dollars. Homeland Security/Domestic Counterterrorism, $1,117b --- Estimated Future Obligations for Veterans' Care, Through FY2050, $2,200b --- Veterans' Care Through FY2022, $465b --- DOD Overseas Contingency Operations, $2,101b --- State Department, $189b --- Interest Payments on War Spending Through FY2022, $1,087b --- Increases to the Pentagon Base Budget, $884b. (Source: The Nation, 9 . 20 - 27. 2021.)

III. The War Chest

The base budget of the Department of Defense, plus the cost of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), or actions in war zones, in current dollars. The Emergency/OCO spending increased by at least $170b in the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Ever since then, except for 2006, the Emergency/OCO spending has increased by less then $100b. War spending jumped in 2018 and 2019 by about $680b, after reaching $600b only once in the preceding five years. (Source: Same as II.)

IV. The Peaks of War Spending

War spending on Iraq & Syria peaked in 2008  at slightly over $140b. War spending on Afghanistan peaked in 2011 at $120b. War spending on the three countries is projected to decline to $20b in 2022. (Source: Same as II.)

V. The Total Cost of America's Post-9/11 Wars

"The United States reacted to the 9/11 attacks with a military mobilization of unprecedented cost. Over the past 20 years, the US military has spent or requested about $5.8 trillion in today's dollars. Add in future medical expenses and disability payments for veterans, which according to research by Harvard's Linda Bilmes will likely exceed $2.2 trillion by 2050, and the total cost of two decades of war is more than $8 trillion."

Direct war deaths in the major war zones of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria/ISIS, Yemen, and a category designated as "Other," will reach a range of  897,150-928,558 since 9/11. (Source: Neta Crawford, "The Numbers," The Nation, 9 . 20 - 27 . 2021.)