WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The price of a post-war U.S. occupation of Iraq could be so big that some experts fear it would make the cost of combat alone pale in significance. This is especially true because consideration of the war`s ultimate price tag, and how to pay it, comes at a time the US government is already awash in red ink.
This week, the White House asked Congress for almost $75 billion in extra money to pay for a relatively short war in Iraq. While Congress has yet to set aside funding for rebuilding in the current budget debate, worries over the war`s eventual costs were cited in the Senate`s Tuesday vote to whack President Bush`s proposed 10-year tax cut of $726 billion in half.
For a government that spends more than $2 trillion a year, a one-time expense of $75 billion is relatively small. It will, however, add to what the Bush administration has already estimated will be a record budget shortfall of $304 billion in 2003 and it will mean additional debt will be added to the government`s current outstanding debt of $6.400 trillion...
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