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War Dollars: Bush asks for $82 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Aid

On February 14, 2005, President Bush sent to Congress a request for an additional $81.9 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, tsunami relief, and improved death benefits for the families of soldiers killed in combat.

If Congress approves the request, the cost of George W. Bush’s Middle East wars will rise to around $300 billion, including reconstruction costs and other anti-terrorism efforts. This number is fast approaching the cost of The Vietnam War, which went on for more than a decade, and totaled around $623 billion when converted to today’s dollars.

Details from The White House

According to The White House, The budget supplemental gives $74.9 billion to the Defense Department, $5.6 billion to international aid, $950 million to tsunami relief, and another $600 million to intelligence and homeland security.

More specifically, the Defense Department will get:

• $42.5 billion To fund combat and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as intelligence activities and an enhanced death benefit for the survivors of service members.
• $5.7 billion for a new flexible account to build Iraq security forces.
• $5.3 billion for "Army Modularity," a multi-year plan to restructure the Army’s force.
• $5.4 billion to the Army to refurbish or replace worn or damaged equipment.
• $3.3 billion to add armor to convoy trucks and for other purposes.
• $1.3 billion for a new flexible account to build Afghan security forces.
• $257 million for drug interdiction in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
• $42 million to construct a permanent detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

International expenditures include:

• $780 million for international peacekeeping activities in Africa: Sudan/Darfur, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Burundi and Congo, including $55 million for a Sudan War Crimes tribunal.
• $660 million for State Department narcotics control and law enforcement programs.
• $658 million for construction of U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
• $342 million in humanitarian aid, including famine relief, for Sudan.
• $200 million in aid to Palestinians.
• $200 million in economic and military aid to Jordan.
• $200 million for a "Global War on Terror Partners Fund."
• $150 million in military aid to Pakistan.
• $60 million in aid to Ukraine.

The tsunami relief gives:

• $700 million to the State Department/USAID for relief and reconstruction activities.
• $226 million to fund Defense Department relief operations.
• $23 million to provide for expanded U.S. tsunami warning capabilities.

And the additional intelligence and homeland security expenditures include:

• $250 million to establish the new Office of the Director of National Intelligence, including construction of a new office, and to support information sharing.
• $161 million for the Coast Guard, including funds to offset the costs of operations in the Iraq region, such as overhauling ships returning from combat theaters.
• $110 million for efforts to deploy radiation detection equipment and train law enforcement officials in overseas ports to stop the spread of nuclear material.
• $80 million for the FBI, half of which is for the bureau to expand a terrorist screening center. The other $40 million for continued support of FBI operations in Iraq.

Democrats’ objections

Although Democrats want to support soldiers in Iraq and provide aid to tsunami victims, they criticize Bush’s funding request because it would be financed through borrowing.

Democrats say that the supplemental calls attention to the nation’s fiscal crisis, including the massive national debt, which has grown significantly under the Bush administration.

Further, Democrats criticize Bush for funding Iraq and Afghanistan through a supplemental bill, instead of including the cost in the general budget. The supplemental-bill strategy, Democrats say, allows the Bush administration to announce a general budget that is $82 billion smaller.

The administration deflects this accusation by saying that they could not predict Iraq and Afghanistan costs in time for the general budget.

History lessons

Despite Democrats’ critiques, Bush may have learned the supplemental-bill strategy from former President Bill Clinton.

During his administration, Clinton requested last-minute supplemental bills for operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq.

In 2001, Bush’s Chief Financial Officer Dov Zakheim promised to end what he called the "pathological system" behind the Clinton administration’s methods of paying for ongoing conflicts. No more, Zakheim said, would he permit underfunding in budget requests in anticipation of later supplemental appropriations bills to fix them. "The president," Zakheim said, "made very, very clear he does not want supplementals."

Bill schedule

The supplemental may be ready for Bush to sign as soon as April 2005, if everything goes as the administration has planned.

The White House has requested that no amendments be attached to the supplemental, because any additional provisions could stall this essential funding. But Republican party leaders announced in December 2004 that they would be adding an immigration reform bill, which is contentious enough to stall the supplemental. This is the bill that was postponed from the last session of Congress and was promised to key Republicans for the new term.

Supporters of the immigration reform bill suspect that it will be easier to pass if it is attached to a necessary spending measure, but a potential consequence of this strategy is a stalled supplemental.

What do you think?

It’s important to note political strategies and their consequences. Clearly many of the items listed were known about before. A prime example is the policy issue in Afghanistan about heroin - their best cash crop. The Administration was warned by everyone not to let the drug crops which had been banned under the Taliban come back after we defeated the Taliban. With the current criticism about heroin, the Administration responds by adding money to try to get rid of the crop and shift poor people to grow something else.

Party strategies can affect the things we care about - like soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and tsunami relief victims. We will continue to track the details.

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Update Posted on: 2/21/2005