US War Costs Could Hit $811 Billion

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FOCUS | US War Costs " Could Hit $811 Billion "

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 11:31:12 -0700

 

 

 

 

How many americans could have been helped with this amount of money,

instead of it being used to wage publicly financed, private wars for

US corporations, while destroying other nations. Instead struggling

american taxpayers will be forced to take needed resources from their

families to pay taxes, for many years, for an unjust war to benefit

Big Oil and other crooks. " Oh, we can't help our own people, that

would be communism " they all replied in unison.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042906X.shtml

 

US War Costs " Could Hit $811Bn "

BBC News

 

Friday 28 April 2006

 

The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has soared and may

now reach $811bn (£445bn), says a report by the Congressional Research

Service.

 

It estimates that Congress has appropriated $368bn for the global

war on terror, including both conflicts.

 

It says that if the current spending bill is approved, US war

costs will reach $439bn, and it estimates that an extra $371bn may be

needed by 2016.

 

On that basis, the two wars would cost more than the $579bn spent

in Vietnam.

 

The future costing assumes that US troop levels will drop from the

258,000 currently engaged in all operations to 74,000 by 2010.

 

Budget Gap

 

The rising cost of the war is leading to growing concerns in

Congress, where attempts to control the budget deficit have been

hindered by the " supplementary " requests received each year for war

spending.

 

The CRS estimates that the US Department of Defense's annual war

funding has risen from $73bn in 2004 to $120bn in 2006, with an

increase of 17% this year alone.

 

There have also been concerns that extra non-related

appropriations are often tucked inside the war funding bill.

 

On Thursday Senators deleted funding for a $15m seafood promotion

programme that had been tucked away in the current bill.

 

Earlier, Senators diverted $1.9bn in war funds to pay for

increased immigration controls at US borders.

 

Troop Levels

 

The cost of the war in Iraq has been increasing since US troops

have become bogged down in the conflict.

 

The CRS says the real cost of the conflict in Iraq has risen to

$8bn monthly, nearly double the cost in 2003.

 

It points out that it is difficult to estimate the exact cost of

individual operations, such as the Iraq conflict, because the Defense

Department does not break down the figures for individual operations.

 

And it says that the Defense Department has also minimised the

cost of the war by not including other costs, including intelligence

and the training of Iraqi and Afghan security forces, in its estimates.

 

Overall, 71% of the total war costs have been spent in Iraq, 21%

in Afghanistan, and 7% on increased protection for US forces worldwide.

 

The main reason for the rapidly escalating costs is increased

spending on ammunition, equipment and operational materials such as

petrol.

 

Over $60bn has been spent on procurement, including improved

armour, replacement of damaged vehicles, and the building of a more

extensive infrastructure to support the troops on the ground.

 

The CRS says that " if the global war is likely to become the long

war as some administration spokesman have suggested, Congress may want

to consider requiring that the Department of Defense request a full

year's war funds concurrently with its regular budget " .

 

The estimates do not include the costs of reconstruction, which

the US originally estimated at $56bn.

 

A recent report from the General Accounting Office suggested these

costs would be much higher, but also said much of the money disbursed

so far had been spent on security, not rebuilding.

 

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