Nonpartisan study tabs cost of wars at $4 trillion

Pentagon spending accounts for only half of the budgetary costs incurred and represents a fraction of the full economic cost of the wars, according to the study. Among other line items, the study’s contributors - more than 20 economists, political scientists, and other specialists - estimate federal obligations to care for past and future veterans will eventually total $600 billion to $950 billion.

The estimates are based on reports from the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, and myriad other sources.

The $4 trillion estimate could be fodder for lawmakers increasingly concerned that the United States can ill-afford to maintain a large military presence in Afghanistan. The study’s authors say that is a debate worth having.

“Some people will say that’s an expensive price tag, but what we’re trying to do makes it worth it. Other people will say we can’t afford it,’’ Catherine Lutz, codirector of the “Costs of War’’ project, said in an interview.