Marvin The Paranoid Android <marv@HeartOfGold.com> Spat the Words
Hmmmmm .... $12.3 Billion .... is that still considered a lot of money??
It's only 0.1 % of $10Trillion.
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U.S. Underestimated War Costs by $12.3 Billion - GAO
Wed Jul 21, 2004 07:21 PM ET
By Anna Willard
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it may tap
emergency
funding for Iraq and Afghanistan earlier than requested as a
congressional
report found that the Bush administration underestimated war costs by
$12.3
billion.
The report fueled criticism that the wars were badly planned and comes as
Congress prepares to approve this week $25 billion in war funds that the
White House requested for the 2005 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Those
funds will become available when the legislation is passed.
But a Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department may need to use
that
money earlier if Congress does not approve a request to divert unused
money
from other Pentagon accounts.
"If we do not get the ... reprograming, we will have to tap into the $25
billion earlier than fiscal year 2005," the spokeswoman said.
The report by Congress' investigative arm found that the Defense
Department
has been forced to shift funds from other uses, including pushing
expenses
from the 2004 fiscal year into 2005, in a move likely to boost war costs
further down the line.
"Analysis ... suggests that anticipated costs will exceed the
supplemental
funding provided for the war by $12.3 billion for the current fiscal
year,"
the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said.
Congress approved an $87 billion emergency spending bill in October 2003
to
finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of
September.
Democrats estimate that the Pentagon has $5 billion left to fund the 2004
shortfall but will need to find $7 billion to cover it in the last two
months of the fiscal year.
WARTIME PRESIDENT
"George W. Bush likes to call himself the wartime president, yet ... he
has
grossly mismanaged the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq," said a
spokesman for Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry.
"This latest report ... is another example of how George W. Bush planned
for the best case scenarios and failed to prepare for the realities of
war."
A Pentagon spokeswoman said it is hard to predict the exact cost of a
war.
"No one knows how long it's going to last and what nations will support
it
or end support."
The report warned that deferring activities planned for the 2004 fiscal
year "adds to the requirements that will need to be funded in fiscal year
2005 and potentially later years and could result in a 'bow wave' effect
in
future fiscal years."
Democrats say the White House is trying to avoid using the $25 billion in
the 2004 fiscal year to keep down the size of the record budget deficit
ahead of the November election.
The White House is expected to seek a larger emergency spending bill
after
the U.S. election for Iraq and Afghanistan -- which Democrats say will
top
$50 billion.
The GAO also criticized the Pentagon for lack of transparency into how
the
money has been spent. The report said "large amounts" were reported as
miscellaneous, providing little insight into where the money went.
Lawmakers have agreed to tighten controls and want monthly reports on the
how the latest $25 billion will be used.
But, the GAO said, "additional actions are necessary."
In a separate report, the GAO criticized the Army and Halliburton for
their
logistics work in Iraq, citing the Army's poor planning and problems with
the Texas contractor's cost controls.
.
