US War Spending to Rise 44% to $9.8 B a
Month, Report Says
US military spending in
Iraq and Afghanistan will average 44 percent more in the current fiscal
year than in 2005, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said.
BY JEFF BLISS
Bloomberg.com
Posted by Bulatlat
US military spending
in Iraq and Afghanistan will average 44 percent more in the current fiscal
year than in 2005, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said.
Spending will rise to
$9.8 billion a month from the $6.8 billion a month the Pentagon said it
spent last year, the research service said. The group's March 10 report
cites "substantial" expenses to replace or repair damaged weapons,
aircraft, vehicles, radios and spare parts.
It also figures in
costs for health care, fuel, national intelligence and the training of
Iraqi and Afghan security forces -"now a substantial expense," it said.
The research service
said it considers "all war and occupation costs," while the Pentagon
counts just the cost of personnel, maintenance and operations.
The U.S. Congress
approved March 16 emergency funding that includes military spending y a
vote of 348-71. The measure authorizes $72 billion for war costs and
almost $20 billion for hurricane relief. The Senate is expected to pass it
next month.
The U.S. Congress has
already approved $50 billion in supplemental war funding for the current
fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, after spending $100 billion last year.
To date, Congress has approved about $337 billion for the wars since Sept.
11, 2001.
2007 funding
The administration
has said it also will seek $50 billion in war funding for fiscal year 2007
to serve as a bridge fund until needs are assessed. That will be on top of
the $439.3 billion defense budget the president submitted.
The request the House
approved March 16 includes $67.6 billion for war operations, much of it in
costs for personnel and repair and replacement of equipment; about $4.9
billion to train and equip Afghan and Iraqi security forces; and about $2
billion for defenses against roadside bombs, which have been a leading
cause of death for US servicemen in Iraq.
To date, 2,310
members of the US military have died in Iraq since the war began three
years ago, 1,808 of them in combat, according to the Pentagon.
The hurricane money
approved will go toward housing, enhancing levees and public safety
projects in Louisiana and Mississippi following the devastation caused by
Hurricane Katrina last August, the administration said.
Spending on the wars
and hurricane relief will widen the federal budget deficit to a record
$423 billion this fiscal 2006, an increase from last year's $319 billion
deficit, the administration forecasted last month.
$87
billion already
Of the $87 billion
already approved for hurricane relief and rebuilding, $31 billion has been
earmarked for health and social services, school repairs, payments to
farmers and unemployment insurance; $41 billion is going to temporary
housing and flood insurance payments and $15 billion is set aside for
levee and road repairs and repairs to damaged federal facilities,
according to the administration.
The measure passed
includes an amendment to prohibit a
Dubai
owned company from operating port facilities at the U.S. DP World, the
third-largest container port operator. The company has already promised it
will sell its U.S. operations to a U.S. buyer. Most lawmakers conceded
the issue was moot but wanted their opposition to the original deal to be
on record.
Other amendments
provide extra money for anti-drug operations in Colombia and peacekeeping
efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan. Posted by Bulatlat
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