US war bill hits $17bn a month!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Walter Pincus, Washington
THE cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the worldwide battle against terrorism has hit almost half a billion dollars a day, a US senator says.
"This cost of this war is approaching $US15 billion ($A17 billion) a month, with the army spending $US4.2 billion of that every month," said Ted Stevens, one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued US military presence in Iraq.
The Congressional Research Service reported this month that the Bush Administration's request for $US189.3 billion for Defence Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counter-terrorism activities in the 2008 financial year was 20% higher than for 2007 and 60% higher than for 2006.
"Stevens is being realistic," said Gordon Adams, who was the senior national security official at the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1997. "Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror are not getting cheaper."
THE cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the worldwide battle against terrorism has hit almost half a billion dollars a day, a US senator says.
"This cost of this war is approaching $US15 billion ($A17 billion) a month, with the army spending $US4.2 billion of that every month," said Ted Stevens, one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued US military presence in Iraq.
The Congressional Research Service reported this month that the Bush Administration's request for $US189.3 billion for Defence Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counter-terrorism activities in the 2008 financial year was 20% higher than for 2007 and 60% higher than for 2006.
"Stevens is being realistic," said Gordon Adams, who was the senior national security official at the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1997. "Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror are not getting cheaper."
