As the costs of fighting and rebuilding in
Iraq keep mounting by the billions, lawmakers and policy makers are
debating how much more will be needed and whether money used so far was
well spent. Congress and its auditors are looking at amounts still
required as the campaign moves well into its second year. . One
congressional committee has looked at allegations of war profiteering
by private contractors. And with the State Department now in charge of
American activities in Iraq - instead of the Pentagon - officials there
said Thursday that they think reconstruction money could be better
spent creating Iraqi jobs than on big-ticket infrastructure projects. [more]
U.S. Military Spending. Off the Chain.
The U.S. military budget request for Fiscal Year 2005 is $420.7 billion
For Fiscal Year 2004 it was $399.1 billion .
For Fiscal Year 2003 it was $396.1 billion .
For Fiscal Year 2002 it was $343.2 billion .
For Fiscal Year 2001 it was $305 billion. And Congress had increased that budget request to $310 billion.
This was up from approximately $288.8 billion, in 2000. [more]
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