Funding for U.S. Military Operations in Iraq Could Surge($75-100 billion)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration, facing mounting violence in Iraq (news - web sites) and demands for upgraded equipment, is assembling a funding package for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites) that could surge beyond earlier estimates to as much as $75 billion to $100 billion, congressional sources and experts said on Thursday.



~snip~

The Army's request alone could top $51 billion, far more than the $35 billion to $40 billion cited by the Army chief of staff in October, congressional sources said.


The Marines are also expected to push for billions of dollars more as the Pentagon (news - web sites) increases troop strength for Iraqi elections scheduled for January.

~snip~

Officials said rising fuel costs would add $3 billion or more to next year's price tag. World oil prices have skyrocketed since the start of the year, in part because of the turmoil in Iraq.


more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=2&u=/nm/20041210/wl_nm/iraq_funding_dc

What's Halliburton's share?? Ya think if we just got rid of the waste at Halliburton, they'd have sufficent $$$$ for up armored vehicles.
Wonder how many of * previous Cabinet members will be cashing in?? :eyes:

Edited to add the rising fuel price quote. :wtf:

Officials said rising fuel costs would add $3 billion or more to next year's price tag. World oil prices have skyrocketed since the start of the year, in part because of the turmoil in Iraq.




:wtf: Thought the oil in Iraq was going to pay for the war and the rebuilding. Where O' Where is Wolfie??

If Bush wants to spend hundreds of billions more in Iraq, the soldier putting Rummy on the spot about lack of armor would certainly make sense. It can then be seen as merely responding to the requests of the soldiers on the ground. Along with a few million for armor plating vehicles, a few tens of billions can go to Halliburton et al.

...right? I mean, they'd never approve an exorbitant funds appropriation for an illegal war of aggression just because it's politically expedient, right?

on edit: I seem to have hit "post message" before adding the term "pig bastards" to my reply....

OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK
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OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK
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OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK
OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK

so how much will that be so far, like 300 billion?

seems like a good deal. right?

for intelligence...doncha know. :(

it is a miracle that i do not physically beat down the people i meet who say they support the troops by supporting bush... the temptation! so strong! mustn't beat down the retarded! mustn't!

of the U.S. He is a corporatist globalist first. His whole elitist family has been for decades.

That 'special appropriation' required full accountability to Congress, iirc.

Is anybody doing the math?

A couple hundred billion specifically appropriated for the war.

Who knows how many billions from oil that HAS flowed out of Iraq.

Several hundred billion appropriated for the DoD.

Adds up to a helluva lot of money,...maybe a trillion.

Where the hell is it all going?

Is there some mysterious alien black hole none of us know about?

estimates of $20 billion a year

http://www.cfr.org/pdf/Iraq_DayAfter_TF.pdf

excerpt:

The scale of American resources that will be required could amount
to some $20 billion per year for several years.This figure as-
sumes a deployment of 75,000 troops for post-conflict peace
stabilization (at about $16.8 billion annually),as well as funding for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance (as recommend-
ed immediately below).If the troop requirements are much larg-
er than 75,000 —a real possibility —the funding requirement
would be much greater.

For reconstruction and humanitarian assistance alone,the
president should request from Congress $3 billion for a one-year
period and make clear that the United States will be prepared to
make substantial additional contributions in the future.This ini-
tial contribution would include $2.5 billion for reconstruction
and $500 million for humanitarian aid.(However,if there are sig-
nificant interruptions in the availability of Iraqi oil revenues for
use by the Oil for Food Program,the figure for humanitarian assis-
tance would need to be considerably higher.)

...lots more...

according to the latest press releases. Can you imagine how much that money could have helped Americans with health care and education issues? Oh well. The Bushies elected a corporate globalist who has little interest in American citizens. Let them live with it.

It is not difficult to imagine how vastly different the US would be if it allocated the same vast amounts for peace instead of war.

For every Abrams M1 tank in Iraq, imagine a hospital in the US instead. Or imagine a school.

Think of all the bombs that wouldn't have been manufactured and exploded on some unfortunate Iraqi family.

The retard Bush does not have the ability to think beyond his war game plans. Can he get his pals in the Federal Reserve to print more money to pay for all his grandiose scheming against the rest of the world? Printing money is just an assembly-line operation.

and expect it to go up even more...WTF! it really boggles the mind but more than that the precious loss of life!