travbowman asked
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday sought to allay concerns that the military would run out of money to pay for the war in Iraq beyond September. Officials said they could take money from other accounts until the White House asks Congress for the extra money needed. The Pentagon's $401.7 billion budget request for fiscal year 2005 doesn't contain money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That means the military will run out of cash to pay for the war after Oct. 1, when the current funding is expected to run dry. The White House isn't expected to ask Congress for extra money until January 2005. On Tuesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker and Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee told the Senate Armed Services Committee that they were concerned about how to fund the gap between Oct. 1 and when the White House's supplemental spending request is approved. In a hastily called news conference Wednesday, Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim said the Pentagon could dip into operations and maintenance accounts to pay for the war in Iraq and operations in Afghanistan during the four months between the end of September and January. “Many of us believe we should hold off … requesting any supplemental funds until the beginning of calendar year 2005,” Zakheim said. Some lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have accused the administration of trying to hide the true costs of the war by financing them through emergency spending bills
373 answers · 0 comments
Answer this yourself in the app
See how this splits by age, gender, and region in the app.
