U.S. Soldiers Cost Taxpayers $1 Million Each Annually

One American soldier now costs U.S. taxpayers $1 million a year.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — One American soldier now costs U.S. taxpayers $1 million a year.

This new figure means that to field 40,000 troops to Afghanistan as suggested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the bill will be $40 billion.

The 2006 figure by congressional researchers had each soldier costing $390,000.

The increase is reportedly due to more equipment to transport soldiers and survey insurgents in the mountain regions of Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported the new figure as part of the government’s budget projections for the war in Afghanistan.

A military budget estimate is upwards of $734 billion, which is $67 billion more than the highest annual military budget under the Bush administration.

This budget is said to have caused President Obama to rethink his strategy in Afghanistan.

The Times reported that Obama plans to cut domestic spending by five percent in 2011.