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Bush seek $25bn more for Iraq
06/05/2004 07:13 - (SA)
Washington - The Bush administration asked Congress Wednesday for an additional $25bn for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional Republicans said, a retreat from the White House's earlier plans not to seek such money until after the November elections.
White House budget chief Joshua Bolten and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz went to the Capitol to present the proposal to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other top Republicans.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said Frist had told him of the proposal.
"I approve. Good move," Warner told reporters.
The request comes amid an intensified Iraqi insurrection that has inflicted steady casualties on Americans and forced the Defence Department to plan on keeping more troops in the country next year than the administration had planned.
It also comes with the Bush administration and the military facing widespread criticism at home and abroad for the abuse of Iraqi war prisoners, including investigations into the deaths of 14 of the detainees.
The $25bn would be for the federal budget year that begins next October 1, House aides said.
In February, President George W Bush's budget omitted any funds for US military and reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan next year. Bolten said at the time that the administration's 2005 request for Iraq could be up to $50bn, and said the request would not come until at least next January.
For months, administration officials had insisted they had enough money to last until the new year. This year's expected record federal deficit could be a significant issue in the election campaign.
Congress and Bush enacted an $87.5bn package last November for this year's US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In April 2003, a $79.5bn measure was approved for that year's activities.
In recent weeks, administration officials have raised the possibility that they also will need extra money for the final weeks of this fiscal year, with many members of Congress saying they believe billions will be needed.
But as recently as Monday, a senior administration official downplayed the need for money right now for US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So far, Bush "has not been told that there is a resource problem," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That official also said there was currently enough money for reconstruction in Iraq.
Of $18.4bn provided last November for rebuilding that country's economy and government, less than $2.8bn has been spent or is owed to contractors, according to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the US-led agency governing Iraq.
It seemed likely that the $25bn proposal would be only the first portion of funds that will be needed for next year.
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