Iraq Occupation: $100,000 Per Minute

Bush is planning to ask Congress for an additional $70 billion to pay for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:

Most of the new money would pay for the war in Iraq, which has cost an estimated $250 billion since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.

Currently, the Defense Department says it is spending about $4.5 billion a month on the conflict in Iraq, or about $100,000 per minute.

Current spending in Afghanistan is about $800 million a month, or about $18,000 per minute.

An Iraqi family waits outside for U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Iraqi soldiers to search their home during an operation in the village of Abu Rayat, 25 km (16 miles) southeast of the western Iraq town of Hit, February 4, 2006. (REUTERS/Bob Strong)

Iraqi women and children wait as U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and Iraqi soldiers search their home. February 4, 2006 (REUTERS/Bob Strong)

Iraqis carry the coffin of a woman killed by U.S. forces in Sadr city during a funeral in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad February 3, 2006. A woman was killed and five people wounded on Thursday when a U.S. helicopter fired rockets at a house in Baghdad's Sadr City district, Iraqi police said. The U.S. military said the helicopter returned fire after being shot at by a man standing on a roof. February 3, 2006. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammad)