Pentagon: Afghan war costing US $45 billion per year

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis listens during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 in Washington. Mattis says the administration's new nuclear strategy pays the right amount of attention to arms control, even as it focuses on strengthening the nuclear force. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Washington • Forty-five billion dollars. That’s how much the Pentagon says the Afghan war is costing American taxpayers, and with no end in sight they may have to keep footing that bill for years to come.

Lawmakers, skeptical about the prospects of victory, grilled the Trump administration Tuesday on the direction of the nation’s longest-running war, now in its 17th…