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Pentagon to seek emergency war funding

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The Pentagon plans to ask Congress for emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nation's top military officer said Wednesday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the National Press Club he anticipates needing more funds beyond the $130 billion Congress authorized last month, The New York Times reported.

Additional funding for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010, would be in the form of an emergency "supplemental request." Mullen said he doesn't know yet whether an increase in troop strength in Afghanistan would require a supplemental request.

"From what I can see, I certainly think there will be some requirement," he said. "I just don't know exactly what it will be yet."

Some inside and outside the Pentagon suggested the request could be for as much as $50 billion, the Times said. The request ultimately would depend on the number of additional troops President Obama sends to Afghanistan.

The top NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked for 40,000 more U.S. troops, in addition to the 68,000 already there.

The Defense Department request likely will draw criticism from lawmakers who are troubled by the 8-year war in Afghanistan, steep deficits and the costs of the economic stimulus and proposed healthcare reform, the newspaper said. Obama has said he would not resort to supplemental requests for the Pentagon, a funding tool his predecessor, George W. Bush, relied on regularly.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/05/2009

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