Pricetag for US operations in Iraq to rise steeply: Wolfowitz

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http://www.antiwar.com/



WASHINGTON : The pricetag for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year will greatly exceed the 25 billion dollars requested just last week by the White House, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told lawmakers Thursday.

"It will sure be much larger than 25 billion dollars," Wolfowitz said, adding that a request for another tranche of funds will likely be sent from the Pentagon to the Congress "early next calendar year."

"Our higher projected troop levels increase the risk that certain accounts, especially operation maintenance army, could have difficulty cash flowing operations beyond the February-March time frame in 2005.

"This reserve fund will eliminate that risk and provide a margin of safety," Wolfowitz said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He refused however, to be pinned down on just how expensive the operations in Iraq were like to go.
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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/84866/1/.htm