The White House Monday plans to send Congress an expanded 189.3 billion dollar request for funding for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader war on terrorism in 2008, a Pentagon spokesman said.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the case for the additional war funding in congressional testimony on September 26, but Monday's action marks the formal request with the documentation to justify it.
The request adds 42.3 billion dollars to the administration's original 141.7 billion dollar estimate of 2008 war costs. It also includes 5.3 billion dollars that had been previously approved for mine-resistant armored vehicles known as MRAPS.
"It's covering force protection and reconstitution (of) damaged equipment -- getting units back up to the proper level of equipment," said Lieutenant Colonel Brian Maka.
Gates said the request would include six billion dollars to maintain US surge forces in Iraq through July.
The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are funded separately from the base defense budget. The administration's 2008 budget request for 481.4 billion dollars is still pending.
