IRAQ: YOUR TAX DOLLARS BEING BURNT 3X FASTER NOW *PIC*

by Miker12, Friday, November 19, 2004, 23:20

Rising War Costs
Monthly war spending passes $5.8 billion, chiefs tell Congress

November 19, 2004

As casualties mount in Iraq, so has the monetary cost of the war. The military is now spending more than $5.8 billion each month, top officials told Congress this week....And, in a few months, more money will be needed.

The Army, with about 110,000 soldiers on the ground in Iraq, has a monthly "burn rate" of $4.7 billion.

The Air Force is spending about $800 million monthly.

The Marines, which are spearheading the fighting in Fallujah, had an average monthly war cost of $300 million.

The Navy, which was silent about its spending during the committee hearing Wednesday, did not provide its war spending totals yesterday.

War spending, known euphemistically as the "burn rate," includes the cost of fighting, feeding and fueling the forces in the area, according to the military.

Besides such consumables as bullets, bombs, food and gas, the money is used to bolster the body and vehicle armor protecting troops; buy weapons, uniforms, tents and other gear for soldiers; and replace vehicles lost in attacks, roadside bombs and accidents.

It doesn't include soldiers' regular pay and other routine costs unchanged by the war.

On a yearly basis, the war tab is about $70 billion....

Initial cost estimates pegged the monthly burn rate at $2.2 billion in early 2003. By July 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that costs were running about $3.9 billion a month. In June, the Pentagon comptroller said that the monthly bill was nearly $5 billion.

In August, the Pentagon got a $25 billion boost for the war through a supplemental appropriation, but military officials said this week that the money likely will run out in a few months unless another temporary spending bill is approved....Defense analyst John Pike said that the burn rate is likely to increase....

To help understand how much money $5.8 billion is, think of it in $1 bills. That would be 5,800,000,000 bills, weighing nearly 12.8 million pounds. Stacked, the bills would reach more than 393 miles into space.

That's for one month.