US Iraq war costs likely to top $110b this fiscal

A marine honor guard pulls the casket of Lance Cpl. Brent Beeler, 22, of Jackson, from a hearse at Grace Baptist Church in Michigan on Tuesday. Beeler was killed in action recently while conducting combat operations in Iraq. PHOTO: AFP

Portman said that emergency spending for the US war effort in the year that started in October "will be in excess of 110" billion dollars, but that a final figure had not yet been calculated.

The final amount "depends on a lot of things that are not yet decided, one is policy going forward, which is clearly a major factor," Portman told reporters at a briefing.

US President George W. Bush is currently mulling increasing the number of US troops deployed to Iraq in a bid to temper rising instability across the country, but the president has not yet finalized his plans which he is due to unveil next month.

Any additional US troop deployments to Iraq would likely require extra military expenditures.

"There has been no decision made on that as you know," Portman said when asked about a possible surge in US troop numbers.

US troop levels in Iraq, currently at 129,000, have generally hovered around 140,000 in recent years.

News reports had suggested meanwhile that the Defense Department will seek between 127 and 160 billion dollars in emergency military funds called supplementals.

Such supplementals have helped fund US military campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, although the bulk of the monies have been allocated to operations in Iraq.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will release a fuller projection of the Iraq war costs early next year.

The figure would be a supplemental spending request for the fiscal year that began October 1.

Portman said OMB officials were working hard on reaching a final figure with the Pentagon.