The Pentagon spent roughly $385 billion on overseas contractor work from 2001 to 2013

Evidence

After an extensive examination of government spending data and contracts, my calculations show that just from late 2001 (when the war in Afghanistan began) to 2013, the Pentagon has disbursed around 385 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts to private companies for work outside the United States. Most of this money has gone to overseas bases. And while some of the contracts are for nonbase items such as weapons procurement, the thousands of contracts believed to be omitted from these tallies thanks to accounting errors make the entire 385 billion figure a reasonable reflection of the funds flowing to private contractors to support the country’s global base collection. Indeed, because of the Pentagon’s poor accounting practices and the secrecy surrounding military budgets, the true total may be significantly higher. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 675

Categorization

• QUESTION: Poor Pentagon accounting may mean the true total is far higher — worth chasing original GAO or contract data.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 675
• XREF: connects to: The Pentagon’s overseas cost summary omits most defense-wide spending.

Broader Connections

• The Pentagon’s overseas cost summary omits most defense-wide spending. #expands (0.75)