Gates projects Pentagon needs $70 billion more for wars

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates estimates the Pentagon will need about $70 billion more to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, on top of the $65.9 billion already approved by Congress.

If Congress supports the amount Gates estimates is needed, total spending on the wars will hit $927.7 billion since 2001.

In a three-page letter dated December 31, Gates told House of Representatives Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha that the military needed $69.7 billion in extra funds in fiscal 2009 to fund operations, replace equipment lost or worn out in the wars and replenish supplies.

That would bring the total war spending for fiscal 2009, which began on October 1, to about $136 billion, the lowest in two years.

U.S. war appropriations rose from $107.6 billion in fiscal 2005 to $121.5 billion in 2006, $171 billion in 2007 and $187.7 billion in 2008, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Gates said his estimate did not include an expected massive reinforcement in Afghanistan, which could nearly double the number of U.S. troops from 32,000 to around 60,000.

The troop expansion was not included because the proposal was still under consideration, Gates said, pledging to provide updated numbers to Congress once the plan was approved.

Gates, who has agreed to stay in his job after Barack Obama becomes president on January 20, stressed that the dollar figure was his personal assessment and did not reflect the position of the Bush administration or Obama's incoming government.