Pentagon drafting wartime request

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is drafting a wartime request for up to $100 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan, lawmakers say, a figure that would push spending related to the wars toward a staggering half-trillion dollars.

Reps. Bill Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, and John Murtha, D-Pa., the senior Democrat on the panel, say the military has informally told them it wants $80 billion to $100 billion in a war-spending package that the White House is expected to send Congress next year.

That would be in addition to $50 billion Congress is about to give the Pentagon before lawmakers adjourn for the year for operations in Iraq for the beginning of 2006. Military commanders expect that to last through May.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress has approved more than $300 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, including military operations, reconstruction, embassy security and foreign aid, as well as other costs related to the war on terrorism, according to the Congressional Research Service, which writes reports for Congress.

Asked about the upcoming spending package, Young offered the $80 billion to $100 billion range. "That's what I'm told," he said.

Murtha mentioned the $100 billion figure last week to reporters, saying: "Twenty years it's going to take to settle this thing. The American people are not going to put up with it, can't afford it."

The service branches recently presented their individual requests for funding to top Pentagon officials.

"They were very ambitious," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Washington-based think tank, who has close ties to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon still must write a final proposal, and the White House still has to sign off on the plan, which President Bush is expected to send Congress next year. That means the request ultimately could differ from what lawmakers and military analysts are told the services are seeking.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Marine Lt. Col. Rose-Ann Lynch, said Tuesday that no decisions have been made regarding the next war-funding package, and that department officials will work with the service branches and combatant commands to assess needs.

The administration long has contended that it can't put a price tag on future costs because of the unpredictable nature of war. Critics have accused Bush of delaying his war-spending requests for as long as possible to keep budget-deficit projections looking smaller.