Obama asks $83.4 billion more for Bush's wars

[From wire.antiwar.com] [IIRC, some time ago, a prominent economist (Stiglitz?) estimated the total cost of US aggressions in the Middle East as $3 trillion, so the "almost $1 trillion" figure in the following story has already been challenged by a knowledgeable source. Also, I seem to remember reading that when Obama was in the US Senate, he actually voted *in favor* of funding Bush's wars, at least 9 times, contrary to the impression created by the following text. Finally, we will soon be able to watch congressional Democrats tripping over each other in their eagerness to vote tens of billions more for wars they have occasionally claimed to oppose. I repeat: The Democrats are NO alternative and NO solution.-- YM]

Obama to seek $83.4 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan wars as costs near $1 trillion

ANDREW TAYLOR AP News Apr 09, 2009 13:56 EST

President Barack Obama is seeking $83.4 billion for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pressing for a war supplemental spending bill like the ones he repeatedly voted against when he was senator and George W. Bush was president.

Obama's request would push the costs of the two wars to almost $1 trillion since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to the Congressional Research Service. The additional money would cover operations into the fall.

Budget office spokesman Tom Gavin said the White House will send an official request to Congress Thursday afternoon. Congressional aides briefed on the request revealed its overall cost on condition of anonymity since the briefing was private.

Obama was a harsh critic of the Iraq war as a candidate, a stance that attracted support from the Democratic Party's liberal base and helped him secure his party's nomination. He opposed a war spending bill in 2007 after Bush used a veto to force Congress to remove a withdrawal timeline from the $99 billion measure.

The upcoming request will include $75.5 billion for the military and more than $7 billion in foreign aid.

Obama announced plans in February to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq on a 19-month timetable.

Obama's request would push the amount approved for 2009 to about $150 billion, a drop from the $171 billion cost incurred in 2007 and the $188 billion approved for 2008, when Bush increased the tempo of military operations in a generally successful effort to quell the Iraq insurgency.