As the US prepares to pull out from Iraq, figures released by the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show the cost of the US-led war stands at $709 billion in the past 8 years.
The cost, published in the CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook, comprises of military expenditure, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.
According to the CBO, 2008 was the most expensive year for the war in Iraq, with $140 billion spent that year alone.
This comes while audits from a US watchdog agency show that Washington has spent about 54 billion taxpayer dollars on reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
The agency says more than 10 percent of the sum has been wasted on abandoned or incomplete projects.
