Bush To Seek $46 Billion for Wars

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The New York Sun

WASHINGTON — President Bush will ask Congress for another $46 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and finance other national security needs.

The figure, which Mr. Bush was expected to announce later today at the White House, brings to $196.4 billion the total requested by the administration for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere for the budget year that started October 1. It includes $189.3 billion for the Defense Department, $6.9 billion for the State Department, and $200 million for other agencies.

The figures were disclosed by congressional officials briefed on the request and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

To date, Congress has already provided more than $455 billion for the Iraq war, with stepped-up military operations running about $12 billion a month. The war has claimed the lives of more than 3,830 members of the American military and more than 73,000 Iraqi civilians.

The White House originally asked for $141.7 billion for the Pentagon to prosecute the Iraq and Afghanistan missions and asked for $5.3 billion more in July. The latest request includes $42.3 billion more for the Pentagon — already revealed in summary last month — and is accompanied by a modified State Department request bringing that agency’s total for the 2008 budget year to almost $7 billion.

The State Department is requesting $550 million to combat drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America, $375 million for the West Bank and Gaza and $239 million for diplomatic costs in Iraq.

Top House lawmakers have already announced that they do not plan to act on Mr. Bush’s request until next year, though they anticipate providing interim funds when completing a separate defense funding bill this fall.


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