Hmmm, if we could only collect on the French (WWI) war debt at 5%
interest that could cover it 20 times over.

Tracy Johnson
Measurement Specialties, Inc. 

BT







NNNN


> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Baier
> Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 8:54 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [HP3000-L] OT: War-related costs since 2001 are 
> approaching half a trillion dollars
> 
> 
> Wars force Army equipment costs to triple By LOLITA C. BALDOR 
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON - The annual cost of replacing, repairing and 
> upgrading Army =
> 
> equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than 
> triple next ye= ar 
> to more than $17 billion, according to Army documents obtained by the 
> Associated Press. 
>  
> From 2002 to 2006, the Army spent an average of $4 billion a 
> year in an= nual 
> equipment costs. But as the war takes a harder toll on the 
> military, that=
>  
> number is projected to balloon to more than $12 billion for 
> the federal =
> 
> budget year that starts next Oct. 1, the documents show.
> 
> The $17 billion also includes an additional $5 billion in equipment 
> expenses that the Army requested in previous years but has 
> not yet been =
> 
> provided.
> 
> The latest costs include the transfer of more than 1,200 2 
> 1/2-ton trucks= , 
> nearly 1,100 Humvees and $8.8 million in other equipment from 
> the U.S. Ar= my 
> to the Iraqi security forces.
> 
> Army and Marine Corps leaders are expected to testify before Congress 
> Tuesday and outline the growing costs of the war - with 
> estimates that = it 
> will cost between $12 billion and $13 billion a year for 
> equipment repair= s, 
> upgrades and replacements from now on.
> 
> The Marine Corps has said in recent testimony before Congress 
> that it wou= ld 
> need nearly $12 billion to replace and repair all the 
> equipment worn out = or 
> lost to combat in the past four years. So far, the Marines 
> have received =
> 
> $1.6 billion toward those costs to replace and repair the equipment.
> 
> According to the Army, the $17 billion includes:
> 
> _$2.1 billion in equipment that must be replaced because of 
> battle losses= .
> 
> _About $6.5 billion for repairs.
> 
> _About $8.4 billion to rebuild or upgrade equipment.
> 
> One of the growing costs is the replacement of Humvees, which 
> are wearing=
>  
> out more quickly because of the added armor they are carrying 
> to protect =
> 
> soldiers from roadside bombs. The added weight is causing 
> them to wear ou= t 
> faster, decreasing the life of the vehicles.
> 
> Congress has provided about $21 billion for equipment costs 
> in emergency =
> 
> supplemental budget bills from 2002-06. All the war equipment 
> expenses ha= ve 
> been funded through those emergency bills, and not in the 
> regular fiscal-=
> 
> year budgets.
> 
> Pentagon officials have estimated that such emergency bills 
> would have to=
>  
> continue two years beyond the time the U.S. pulls out of Iraq 
> in order to=
>  
> fully replace, repair and rebuild all of the needed equipment.
> 
> The push for additional equipment funding comes after the 
> House last week=
>  
> passed a $427 billion defense spending bill for the fiscal 
> year beginning=
>  
> Oct. 1, which includes $50 billion for military operations in 
> Iraq and =
> 
> Afghanistan. A separate $66 billion emergency funding bill 
> for the two wa= rs 
> was approved earlier in the month.
> 
> War-related costs since 2001 are approaching half a trillion dollars.
> 
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> 

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