Pentagon says Trump's Afghan troop boost to cost USD one billion

WASHINGTON: The US military's top leaders told lawmakers today that the thousands of additional US troops President Donald Trump has ordered to Afghanistan will cost just over USD 1 billion a year, bringing the total bill for fighting America's longest war to USD 12.5 billion annually.

During wide-ranging hearings on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also said that the United States should remain in the nuclear deal negotiated during the Obama administration that constrains Iran's ability to build a nuclear arsenal.

Trump has trashed the international accord, a cornerstone of Barack Obama's presidency, as the worst agreement ever negotiated by the United States and signalled he may abandon the agreement. The release of the Afghan war cost information came as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, assailed Mattis and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for withholding from Congress key details about Trump's new strategy for winning in Afghanistan that was announced six weeks ago.

McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, declared that it was "bizarre" that Mattis and Dunford did not submit written testimony before the hearing started. That's customary practice for administration witnesses testifying before congressional committees.