Barack Obama Seeks $83.4 Billion for US military operations

Barack Obama, Seeks, $83.4 Billion,U.S. military operations, President Barack Obama is seeking an additional $83.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other initiatives, a request that would bring the total cost of the conflicts to more than $900 billion.

The administration submitted a request to Congress for $75.8 billion more in war funding for the remainder of the 2009 fiscal year. The request includes $11.6 billion to replace military equipment, including $600 million to buy the last four Lockheed Martin Corp. F-22 fighters the Pentagon wants and $400 million for 12 Boeing Co. AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The so-called supplemental spending proposal also seeks $3.6 billion to beef up the Afghanistan Security Force, part of the revised strategy to fight Islamic militants Obama announced last month. Other spending requests include $1 billion in aid to Pakistan, $30 million to begin shutting down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and $350 million to fight narcotics trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This request reflects the reality of our day and age: We need to use all the elements of our power -- economic and diplomatic as well as military -- to confront threats to our security,” Obama said in a letter accompanying the proposal. “In the past, the Congress has moved expeditiously to approve funding for our armed forces. I urge the Congress to do so once more.”