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)
