Iraq funding so far - Less than 1% for medical care for veterans
This report was prepared for Congress by Amy Belasco, specialist in National Defense Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division.
This gives a whole new meaning to Support the Troops:
With enactment of the FY2007 supplemental on May 25, 2007, Congress has approved a total of about $610 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks.
Of the $610 billion appropriated thus far, CRS estimates that Iraq will receive about $450 billion (74%), OEF about $127 billion (21%), and enhanced base security about $28 billion (5%), with about $5 billion that CRS cannot allocate (1%). Of this total funding, 93% of the funds is for DOD, 7% for foreign aid programs and embassy operations, and less than 1% for medical care for veterans.
For DOD, war appropriations rose steeply in FY2007. DOD received $165.8 billion for war costs in FY2007 — more than 40% more than the previous year and 50% more than OMB estimated last summer. In FY2007, the State Department will receive about $6.3. billion for Iraq and Afghanistan for foreign and diplomatic operations funds, and VA Medical costs for OIF/OEF veterans will be about $1 billion, according to CRS estimates.
For FY2008, the administration has requested $141.7 billion for DOD’s war costs, $4.6 billion for foreign and diplomatic operations, and about $800 million for VA medical costs. If Congress approves the FY2008 war requests, total funding for Iraq and the Global War on Terror would reach about $758 billion, including about $567 billion for Iraq, $157 billion for Afghanistan, $29 billion for enhanced security, and $5 billion unallocated.
For the first half of FY2007, CRS estimates that DOD’s average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month, well above the $8.7 billion in FY2006. For FY2007, obligations are about $10 billion in Iraq, $1.9 billion in Afghanistan, and less than $100 million for enhanced security.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that additional war costs for the next 10 years could total about $472 billion if troop levels fall to 30,000 by 2010, or $919 billion if troop levels fall to 70,000 by about 2013. If these estimates are added to already appropriated amounts, total funding for Iraq and the GWOT could reach from about $980 billion to $1.4 trillion by 2017. This report will be updated as warranted.
posted by storiesinamerica @ 6:25 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
If private companies had mismanaged outpatient care for veterans the way the V.A. system has, there would be strong calls from all the usual quarters for a government takeover, and proclamations of how we can't trust "greedy" for-profit companies to take care of veterans. Funny how this thought process doesn't seem to work in reverse, except among "free market ideologues," who have been criticizing the V.A. for years.
Oh, and here's Scott Horton's summary of an Army Times article:
Today's Army Times reports: "The committee wants to learn more about a letter written in September by Garrison Commander Peter Garibaldi to Weightman. The memorandum 'describes how the Army's decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an exodus of 'highly skilled and experienced personnel,'' the committee's letter states. 'According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.' The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official." Fancy that: a former senior Halliburton official.
I would advise y'all holding off yet on exactly *what* the Walter Reed mess is an example of.
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