Bush to Ask Congress for $80 Billion (this week)
Estimate of War's Cost Comes as Thousands March in Protest
By Dana Milbank and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, March 23, 2003; Page A01
www.washingtonpost.com
President Bush plans to tell congressional leaders on Monday that the war in Iraq will cost about $80 billion, administration officials said, three days after both chambers of Congress passed budget plans and authorized tax cuts without an estimate of the war's cost from the administration.
For weeks, White House officials refused to provide a cost estimate, saying they could not account for the various war scenarios. But officials said yesterday that on Monday, Bush plans to tell congressional leaders he will ask for additional funding of about $80 billion. The figure, which has ranged between $70 billion and $90 billion in last-minute deliberations, includes about $60 billion for combat and the first months of reconstruction, with the rest going to foreign aid, homeland security and humanitarian relief.
The administration officials began to speak of the long-secret war costs as Bush monitored the military progress with aides at the Camp David presidential retreat. While the president huddled in rural Maryland, nearly 200,000 demonstrators marched down New York's Broadway in an antiwar rally. Smaller demonstrations were held in San Francisco, Washington and other cities; in Chicago, a group of about 800 demonstrating in support of the troops outnumbered antiwar activists. Large demonstrations against the war persisted across the world, in Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Spain, Britain, Greece and elsewhere.
Bush, who did not appear in public yesterday, praised the troops in his weekly radio address and again promised victory. "Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. This will not be a campaign of half-measures," he said. "It is a fight for the security of our nation and the peace of the world, and we will accept no outcome but victory."
The president repeated warnings he began making earlier in the week that the war could be more difficult than expected. "A campaign on harsh terrain in a vast country could be longer and more difficult than some have predicted," he said. "And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment. Yet, whatever is required of us, we will carry out all the duties we have accepted."
Still, British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon reported better-than-expected progress, saying that "in many respects, it's ahead of the plan."
Amid the rapid progress, administration and U.S. military officials were peppered with questions yesterday about why there has not been any sign of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons, which the administration used as a main justification for war.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), in their response to Bush's radio address, joined him in praising the troops. "Our nation is united in gratitude and respect for them and in support for our commander in chief," said Daschle, who noted that he supported legislation authorizing force against Iraq.
Pelosi, who opposed the war legislation, added: "There is no heavier burden for a president, and no more solemn choice for this nation, than to send these brave men and women into battle. As commander in chief, President Bush has made that decision. As leaders in Congress, we pledge to our forces and their families: You will have all the support you need to win this war and to win the peace."
The Democrats did not repeat earlier condemnation of Bush's performance on Iraq as opinion polls show Americans rallying behind the president and the troops. Last week, Daschle said Bush "failed miserably" at diplomacy, prompting House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to say Daschle had come "mighty close" to providing comfort to the enemy.
At Camp David, Bush began his day at 8 a.m. with a 30-minute intelligence briefing and a 90-minute meeting with his national security advisers, including Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Bush, in addition to exercising, spent half an hour on the phone with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about war developments. The two discussed their plans for "humanitarian assistance," according to a statement from the White House, which also provided photos of Bush presiding at the meeting of his war council.
Administration officials were still working on the war-spending request to be shared with lawmakers, with Bush aides debating exactly what to include and whether to break it into several smaller requests. Bush has not formally signed off on the size of the package but is expected to give his approval during a meeting before he talks to the congressional leaders, the sources said. The full details of the proposal could be presented to Congress as early as Monday.
The White House plan to release a war-cost figure comes after Democrats expressed annoyance at the administration's refusal to provide them with estimates, even classified ones, of the possible costs of the war and its aftermath under various scenarios. Daschle said Tuesday that he found it "preposterous" for the Senate to debate next year's budget when "this big question mark hangs out there, totally unaddressed." To cover possible war costs, the Senate voted to set aside $100 billion of the $726 billion tax cut Bush has proposed.
Administration officials said that they wanted to have the flexibility to scale back the request if the Iraqi government did not resist, and said that providing information about the cost would have sent signals about the scale of their plans that would have complicated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution.
The cost of the war has been a subject of speculation inside and outside the administration for months. Last fall, Bush's then-economic adviser, Lawrence B. Lindsey, put the cost at $100 billion to $200 billion. In January, Rumsfeld put the military costs at "under $50 billion." Pentagon officials last month suggested a range of $60 billion to $95 billion for the war alone.
Bush, asked about estimates during his news conference on March 6, doggedly refused to discuss specifics but called the benefits of the then-potential war as "immeasurable -- how do you measure the benefit of freedom in Iraq?" |
