Pentagon To Shift Funds To Pay for Iraq War

[RedEarth]

The Pentagon plans to shift $9.7 billion of its overall budget to pay for war operations but warned on Wednesday it will run out of money if the U.S. Congress does not approve more funding by mid-July.

The Defense Department, with major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, sent Congress requests to transfer $5.7 billion to the Army’s personnel account from the personnel accounts of other branches of the U.S. armed services.

It also asked Congress for permission to move $4 billion from the services’ operations and maintenance accounts to the Army and U.S. Special Operations Command, whose troops train local security forces and conduct counterterrorism missions.

If approved, the transfers will allow the Pentagon to continue operations until late July, according to department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

“I don’t want to leave you with the impression that this provides us a whole lot,” he said.

“This $9.7 billion reprogramming only buys another few weeks of operations until the department as a whole will then run out of critical funding.”

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/29/9297/

[Mountainman]

1. Good let it die on the vine.

[DCKit]

2. In business, that would be fraud.

Nothing like taking your allowance, spending it on something your parents told you NOT TO BUY, then asking for more $$$.

Even the freepers are so stupid as to let this pass. Are they?

[hokies4ever]

3. That's why you can't cut funding

If Bush wants the troops in Iraq, he'll find a way to keep them there.