The U.S. has spent billions on the Iran war. What else could that money have bought?

It is unclear how much more the U.S. will spend on the Iran war, though the costs will continue to mount as long as U.S. troops are deployed to the region. Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images

The estimated $28 billion the U.S. poured into the Iran war before the ceasefire could have funded a year of day care for 2 million children or rent for 1.2 million people, an NBC News analysis found.