[NYTr] Bush asks for $46 billion more for wars

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

AP - Oct 22, 2007
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_WAR_SPENDING?SITE=ININS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Bush asks for $46 billion more for wars

By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush asked Congress on Monday for another
$46 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and finance other
national security needs. "We must provide our troops with the help and
support they need to get the job done," Bush said.

The figure brings to $196.4 billion the total requested by the
administration for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere for
the budget year that started Oct. 1. It includes $189.3 billion for the
Defense Department, $6.9 billion for the State Department and $200
million for other agencies.

To date, Congress has already provided more than $455 billion for the
Iraq war, with stepped-up military operations running about $10 billion
a month. The war has claimed the lives of more than 3,830 members of
the U.S. military and more than 73,000 Iraqi civilians.

Bush made his request in the Roosevelt Room after meeting in the Oval
Office with leaders of veterans service organizations, a fallen
Marine's family and military personnel who served in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

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.

Bush said any member of Congress who wants to see success in Iraq, and
see U.S. troops return home, should strongly support the request.

"I know some in Congress are against the war and are seeking ways to
demonstrate that opposition," Bush said. "I recognize their position
and they should make their views heard. But they ought to make sure our
troops have what it takes to succeed. Our men and women on the front
lines should not be caught the middle of partisan disagreements in
Washington, D.C."

Democrats were not swayed.

"We've been fighting for America's priorities while the president
continues investing only in his failed war strategy - and wants us to
come up with another $200 billion and just sign off on it?" said Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "President Bush should not expect
Congress to rubber stamp his latest supplemental request. We're not
going to do that."

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 Bush's request until next year, though they anticipate providing
interim funds when completing a separate defense funding bill this
fall. Bush asked lawmakers to approve the request before the holidays.

"We must provide our troops with the help and support they need to get
the job done," Bush said. "Parts of this war are complicated, but one
part is not, and that is America should do what it takes to support our
troops and protect our people."

Congress already has approved more than $5 billion for new vehicles
whose V-shaped undercarriages provide much better protection against
mines and roadside bombs. It's likely that Congress will quickly grant
$11 billion more to deliver more than 7,000 of the vehicles.

The delays in submitting the remaining war funding request were in part
due to unease among congressional Republicans about receiving it during
the veto override battle involving a popular bill reauthorizing a
children's health insurance program.

The request also includes $724 million for U.N. peacekeeping efforts in
the war-torn Darfur region in Sudan, $106 million in fuel oil or
comparable assistance to North Korea as a reward for the rogue nation's
promises to cease its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Another $350
million would go to fight famine in Africa.

For the Pentagon, the latest request includes:

-$1 billion for military construction projects, including improvements
at airfields and other U.S. bases in Iraq.

-$1 billion to expand the Iraqi security forces.

-$1 billion to train National Guard units.

All told, the $189.3 billion Pentagon request for 2008 includes:

-$77 billion for military operations and maintenance.

-$30.5 billion for to protect U.S. forces from roadside bombs, snipers,
and other threats.

-$46.5 billion to repair and replace equipment that has been damaged or
destroyed in combat or worn out in harsh conditions in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

[Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report in
Washington.]

© 2007 The Associated Press.