WASHINGTON - The boost in troop levels in Iraq has increased the cost of war 
there and in Afghanistan to $12 billion a month, and the total for Iraq alone is 
nearing a half-trillion dollars, congressional analysts say. 
 
 
   Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., right, accompanied by Senate Majority 
 Leader Harry Reid of Nev., discusses legislation to change the course of 
 the War in Iraq, Monday, July 9, 2007, during a news conference on Capitol 
 Hill in Washington. [AP]
   | 
All told, Congress has 
appropriated $610 billion in war-related money since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror 
assaults, roughly the same as the war in Vietnam. Iraq alone has cost $450 
billion. 
The figures come from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which 
provides research and analysis to lawmakers. 
For the 2007 budget year, CRS says, the $166 billion appropriated to the 
Pentagon represents a 40 percent increase over 2006. 
The Vietnam War, after accounting for inflation, cost taxpayers $650 billion, 
according to separate CRS estimates. 
The $12 billion a month "burn rate" includes $10 billion for Iraq and almost 
$2 billion for Afghanistan, plus other minor costs. That's higher than Pentagon 
estimates earlier this year of $10 billion a month for both operations. Two 
years ago, the average monthly cost was about $8 billion. 
Among the reasons for the higher costs is the cost of repairing and replacing 
equipment worn out in harsh conditions or destroyed in combat. 
But the estimates call into question the Pentagon's estimate that the 
increase in troop strength and intensifying pace of operations in Baghdad and 
Anbar province would cost only $5.6 billion through the end of September. 
If Congress approves President Bush's pending request for another $147 
billion for the budget year starting Oct. 1, the total bill for the war on 
terror since Sept. 11 would reach more than three-fourths of a trillion dollars, 
with appropriations for Iraq reaching $567 billion. 
Also, if the increase in war tempo continues beyond September, the Pentagon's 
request "would presumably be inadequate," CRS said. 
The latest estimates come as support for the war in Iraq among Bush's GOP 
allies in Congress is beginning to erode. Senior Republicans such as Pete 
Domenici of New Mexico and Richard Lugar of Indiana have called for a shift in 
strategy in Iraq and a battle over funding the war will resume in September, 
when Democrats in Congress begin work on a funding bill for the war. 
Congress approved $99 billion in war funding in May after a protracted battle 
and a Bush veto of an earlier measure over Democrats' attempt to set a timeline 
for withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq. 
The report faults the Pentagon for using the Iraq war as a pretext for 
boosting the Pentagon's non-war budget by costs such as procurement, increasing 
the size of the military and procurement of replacement aircraft as war-related 
items. 
The new estimate comes as the White House and Democrats are fighting over 
spending bills for next year. That battle is over about $22 billion - almost the 
cost of two months' fighting in Iraq. 
"Think about what $10 billion a month would mean to protecting Americans from 
terrorism, improving security at our ports and airports, and increasing border 
security," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.