Pentagon underestimates Afghanistan by $10 billion

Pentagon underestimates Afghanistan by $10 billion, holds war request until May
Foreign Policy National Security
Posted By Kevin Baron
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Pentagon estimates coming up short in Afghanistan by $7 to 10 billion, with half of the fiscal year already passed.

The Defense Department underestimated the cost of the Afghanistan war in fiscal 2013 by as much as $10 billion, the Pentagon’s top budget official said on Wednesday, and lacking clarity on the number of troops that will remain in the country next year, DOD will not submit a fiscal 2014 budget request for the war to Congress until next month.

The budget blunder, combined with sequestration’s mandated cuts and the fact that Congress has not passed an FY13 appropriations bill, posed yet another challenge for defense officials crafting the FY14 Defense Department spending request, which was released on Wednesday.
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