National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada) December 11, 2004
U.S. military funding package could cost up to $100B
BYLINE: Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, facing mounting violence in Iraq and demands for upgraded equipment, is assembling a funding package for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that could surge beyond earlier estimates to US$75-billion to US$100-billion, according to congressional sources and experts, up from earlier estimates of US$60-billion and US$75-billion. The Army's request alone could top $51-billion.
John Pike, a defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, said the rate of spending in Iraq, already at more than US$1-billion a week, could grow to US$1.5-billion or more. "It's going to be a pretty big number," he said. George W. Bush, the U.S. President, has promised to provide U.S. troops with whatever they need, and said on Thursday concerns about inadequate equipment for Iraq combat were being addressed. Meeting with troops in Kuwait on Wednesday, Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, heard several complaints, including one from Specialist Thomas Wilson that U.S. forces were forced to dig up scrap metal to protect their vehicles in Iraq because of a shortage of armoured ones.
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