Pentagon estimates cost of war: $20 billion and running
Figure does not include reconstruction
From Mike Mount
CNN Washington Bureau
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Comptroller Dov Zakheim
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SPECIAL REPORT
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The war in Iraq has cost the United States $20 billion to date and that figure is growing by about $2 billion a month, the Pentagon's comptroller said Wednesday.
Comptroller Dov Zakheim said about $10 billion has gone to military operations, close to $3 billion has gone toward munition purchases and the rest has been spent on personnel support.
The cost of ongoing military operations in Iraq could cost about another $2 billion per month, Zakheim said.
He could not offer figures on the cost of the reconstruction of Iraq, saying only that it would depend on the number of U.S. troops that would remain and what countries might donate to the rebuilding costs.
The cost estimates came during a Pentagon briefing on the 2003 budget supplemental that covered initial war costs, signed earlier Wednesday by President Bush.
The supplemental provides about $63 billion for war operations and another $10.5 billion for assistance, relief and reconstruction.
