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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Wasn't this supposed to come in under $50 billion, and I think Iraqi oil was going to pay for it

On-budget costs for Iraq from the CBO will top $1 trillion by 2017. Never mind the ruined lives, ruined reputations, ruined countries and completely missed objectives. CBO Director Peter Orzag told Congress also that:
  • CBO’s projections find that under DoD’s current plans, defense resources will average about $521 billion annually (in 2008 dollars) from 2014 to 2025 — or about 8 percent more than the total obligational authority for defense requested by the Administration for 2008.
  • Considering potential unbudgeted costs increases the projected long-term demand for defense funding to an annual average of about $621 billion through 2025, or 29 percent more than the Administration’s 2008 request of about $482 billion (excluding funding for war-related activities).

  • CBO’s analysis of unbudgeted costs included several possibilities: that the costs of weapon systems now under development would exceed early estimates, as they have in the past; that medical costs might rise more rapidly than DoD has assumed; and that DoD would continue to conduct contingency military operations overseas as part of the war on terrorism, albeit at reduced levels relative to current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.