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The White House said on Thursday it will ask Congress for US$70 billion for American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

 

But the figure was not final, said Joel Kaplan, the White House deputy budget director. The request would bring the total spending on the two wars to US$120 billion for the current budget year that ends September 30.

 

The final figure in the 2007 budget proposal, to be submitted next Monday, "may be slightly higher or slightly lower than that," he said.

 

President George W. Bush would also ask lawmakers to set aside US$50 billion in the budget for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the first few months of fiscal 2007 that begins October 1. More money is likely to be needed for next year.

 

The funds requested would cover salaries and benefits for the soldiers, repairing and replacing equipment, supporting US embassies in the two countries and fighting the insurgents, as well as the costs of training Iraqi and Afghan security forces.

 

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the US has spent an estimated US$320 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan, including US$50 billion approved by Congress last December, according the Congressional Budget Office.

 

The president would also request 18 billion dollars more this year for hurricane relief, which would push the total federal commitment for rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged region to more than US$100 billion, and an additional US$2.3 billion for prepare for a bird flu epidemic.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2006)