Gates Wants Another $69.7 Billion for His 'Wars'

[bigtree]

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has sent a $69.7 billion war cost “estimate” to congressional leaders and said that the outgoing administration will not formally request more war funding before President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

The estimate would cover military operations related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with activities to battle terrorism around the world, for the remainder of fiscal 2009, which ends Sept. 30. It is not an official request for funding and is subject to change pending new strategic and budgetary decisions by the incoming administration.

“This estimate is my personal assessment and does not reflect the position of the Bush administration or the incoming Obama administration,” Gates said in a Dec. 31 letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees and the Appropriations Defense subcommittees. “As such, I fully expect that the new administration will conduct a fresh review of these matters and provide an updated and more authoritative proposal early next year.”

A proposed plan to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan is still under consideration and therefore was not included in the estimate, Gates wrote.

The total for the estimate is $12 billion less than the estimate originally developed by Gates and communicated to leading defense appropriators in December. If enacted without changes, it would bring total supplemental war spending for fiscal 2009 to about $136 billion.

read: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=cqmidday-000003003320

[joeunderdog]

1. Hold him to as much scrutiny as GM and the car companies.

Make him explain how the money will be used responsibly.

[spanone]

2. not a penny for bu$h* wars imho

[jody]

3. They will be Obama's war on 20 Jan 2009. n/t