Iraq adventure could cost U.S. $600-billion
Washington — The U.S. bill for rebuilding Iraq and maintaining security there is widely expected to far exceed the war's price tag, and some private analysts estimate it could reach as high as $600-billion (U.S.).
The administration is offering only hazy details so far, and that is upsetting Republican as well as Democratic legislators.
The closest the administration has come to estimating America's postwar burden was when L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of occupied Iraq, said last month that "getting the country up and running again" could cost $100-billion and take three years.
He estimated that repairing Iraq's electrical grid alone will cost $13-billion and getting the water system in shape will require an additional $16-billion.
In a recent interview on CNBC's Capital Report, Mr. Bremer said of rebuilding costs: "It's probably well above $50-billion, $60-billion, maybe $100-billion. It's a lot of money."
U.S. President George W. Bush and other officials have refused to provide projections, saying too much is unpredictable. That has angered legislators of both parties, who are writing the budget for the coming election year even as federal deficits approach $500-billion.
"I think they're fearful of having Congress say, 'Oh, My God, this thing is going to be very costly,'" said Representative Jim Kolbe (R, Ariz.), chairman of a subcommittee that controls foreign aid.
More than three months after Mr. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq, even the cost of the on-going U.S. military campaign remains clouded in confusing numbers.
Defence Department officials have said U.S. operations are costing about $3.9-billion monthly. But that figure excludes indirect expenses like replacing damaged equipment and munitions expended in combat.
Dov Zakheim, the Pentagon's top budget official, has said that when all the costs are combined, he expects U.S. military activities in Iraq to total $58-billion for the nine months from last January through September. That includes part of the buildup, the six weeks of heaviest combat that began March 20, and the aftermath.
That sum, however, is what Congress provided this year for Defence Department activities not only in Iraq but also against terrorism worldwide — including Afghanistan, where U.S. military costs are running about $1-billion a month, according to officials.