Obama requests $83.4 billion more for war spending

Defense Secretary Gates argues that the additional money is needed to prevent abrupt troop withdrawals. The administration says it's 'the last supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan.'

By Julian E. Barnes
April 10, 2009

Reporting from Washington - President Obama is seeking an additional $83.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a request that will drive the cost of the two wars to nearly $1 trillion since 2001.

The budget request, to cover operations for the remainder of 2009, comes on top of $67.2 billion approved last fall as a down payment for the year. However, the annual total, about $150 billion, is lower than the amount spent in 2008, after the conclusion of the U.S. troop "surge" in Iraq.

Obama has criticized the use of such emergency funding measures, called supplemental appropriations, to pay for the war. The president's first budget, for 2010, will move more of the wars' costs into the main Pentagon spending plan.