Pentagon underestimates Afghanistan by $10 billion, holds war request until May
Posted By Kevin Baron
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 4:41 PM
The Defense Department underestimated the cost of the Afghanistan war in fiscal 2013 by as much as $10 billion, the Pentagons 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 sequestrations 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.
I cant believe how many things were trying to do right now, Comptroller Robert Hale said.
Pentagon documents show DOD requesting $88 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, formerly known as the Global War on Terror. But the documents caution the request is a placeholder pending submission of a final OCO request.
http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/10/pentagon_underestimates_afghanistan_by_10_billion_holds_war_request_until_may
" L)acking clarity on the number of troops that will remain in the country next year" means exactly what?