-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/08/politics/08BUDG.html?ex=1047704400 &en=0fedea1601dcbd87&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE March 8, 2003
Troop Movement Could Cost $25 Billion, Congressional Office Finds By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM WASHINGTON, March 7 — The Congressional Budget Office estimated today that simply sending troops and equipment to the Persian Gulf to fight Iraq and returning them home would cost nearly $25 billion and that the total cost of a potential war would doubtless be much higher depending on how long hostilities lasted and how much was spent on reconstruction and other assistance. The Bush administration has repeatedly refused to predict what a war might cost. At his news conference on Thursday night, President Bush said that the money would be requested from Congress "at the appropriate time" and that the price of doing nothing would be far greater than the price of going to war. Last week, a senior Defense Department official suggested that a war might cost $60 billion or more. The budget office, the nonpartisan staff of economists and other specialists who advise Congress on fiscal and economic matters, said even rough projections of the total cost of war were impossible because "multiple unknowns exist about how a conflict with Iraq might actually unfold" and because long-term expenditures depend on "highly uncertain decisions about future policies." But the budget staff said it was possible to calculate some of what it called incremental costs, the costs that might be incurred beyond the amounts budgeted for routine operations. The staff calculated that the initial cost of deploying troops and equipment in the region of the war would be about $14 billion, that the cost of the first month of combat would be $10 billion and that the cost would then fall slightly to about $8 billion a month. After the war, the budget office figured it would cost about $9 billion to return the troops and equipment to home bases. American occupation of Iraq, the staff said, could vary from $1 billion to $4 billion a month. The budget office said it was not willing to speculate how much might be spent for humanitarian aid to Iraq, aid to allies in the region or construction of military bases in an occupied Iraq. Nor, the office said, could calculations be made of future troop levels and other military needs that might arise from a war. The estimates of the cost of a possible war were in the budget office's analysis of the budget for the next fiscal year that President Bush sent to Congress last month. The new analysis found that the anticipated deficit had grown by about $50 billion since January, primarily because of deteriorating economic conditions and a big spending bill passed by Congress and signed by the president last month. The deficit analysis does not include war costs. Over the next five years, the deficit projections of the budget office are similar to those made by the president's budget office. For the 2003 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, the Congressional staff projected a slightly lower deficit than the administration did, $287 billion compared with the administration's projection of $304 billion. For the 2004 fiscal year, the Congressional forecast was slightly higher than the administration's, $338 billion compared with $307 billion. Over five years, the budget office calculated, the Bush tax-cut and spending proposals would worsen the deficit by a total of about $800 billion. The cumulative deficits over five years would be $362 billion if no changes were made in the law and $1.2 trillion if the Bush proposals are enacted, the analysis showed. This calculation does not take into account how the Bush proposals would affect the economy. The administration maintains that the tax cuts would make the overall economy and therefore the budget picture much stronger. The administration made no effort to calculate deficits beyond the five- year period, while the budget office extended its projections for 10 years. The Congressional staff acknowledged that such long-range predictions were unreliable. But when it tallied the numbers for 10 years, it found that the administration's tax and spending proposals would worsen the budget situation by a total of $2.7 trillion. Again, no assumptions were made about how the Bush proposals would affect the economy. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
