Paying for the wars - Orange County Register editorial

[question everything]

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=80620§ion=COMMENTARY&subsection=COMMENTARY&year=2004&month=2&day=12


Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee Tuesday that he was simply describing the possible consequences of a possible shortfall or delay in funding next year for the U.S. military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The general was not questioning the judgment of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or the administration. Perish the thought.

Well, maybe it's not quite so straightforward. As Cato Institute vice president for defense and foreign policy Ted Carpenter told us, "The chiefs are clearly trying to head off civilians in the administration who want the military just to suck it up and maybe scrimp a little until after the election."

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It's not an insignificant amount. The administration, with the president wanting to appear as at least something of a fiscal conservative in an election year, didn't ask in its $407 billion defense budget request for fiscal 2005 for everything it will want to spend. It has assured the military it will ask for a supplemental appropriation -estimated anywhere from $50 billion to $70 billion - next January.

The military is concerned that it will run out of money for Iraq and Afghanistan before then, and will have to borrow against other projects, which gets complicated and introduces distortions.

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