$87bn? 'We can afford it'
2003-09-24 19:23
Washington - US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday urged US lawmakers to fulfil a White House request for $87bn to rebuild Iraq, saying that the cost of doing less - including the risk of new terror attack against US interests - could prove far greater.
One day after US President George W Bush defended the war on Iraq in a speech at the United Nations, Rumsfeld told members of Congress that the threats that led Washington to launch the war remain.
"Is 87 billion dollars a great deal of money? Yes. Can our country afford it? The answer is also yes," Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Rumsfeld told the panel members that the US-led coalition in Iraq has "accomplished a great deal, but a good deal remains.
Dangers persist
"Not withstanding the successes, dangers persist. Many terrorists are behind bars but those that remain at large are planning future attacks."
He said that the funds needed for stabilising Iraq are a drop in the bucket to the financial costs of a future possible attack on US interests -- especially an assault launched on US territory.
"The 9/11 attack alone cost the American people literally hundreds of billions of dollars - and that is not counting the enormous price paid in lives."
Rumsfeld said that despite a barrage of criticism about the US management of post-war Iraq, the United States has had "a series of achievements in both security and civil reconstruction that may very well be without precedent," in Iraq.
But he said a sizeable cash infusion is needed to further progress and to respond to "threats from regime remnants, criminals and foreign fighters who have come into the country to oppose the coalition forces".
Funding in full
Rumsfeld also underlined the importance of funding the White House request in full, after many US lawmakers in recent days have said that they are leaning to providing funds to support US troops, but are considering giving a far less than the roughly $20bn requested for Iraqi reconstruction.
Rumsfeld insisted however that the two pots of money were "inextricably linked."
"Helping Iraqis provide for their own security is critical. The investments the president is requesting are in a very real sense a critical element of the coalition's exit strategy," he said.
"The sooner Iraq can defend its own people, the sooner the US and the coalition forces can turn over the security responsibility to the Iraqis."