White House Likely To Request Support Personnel To Put Iraq Plan In Place

WHITE HOUSE (AP) The White House is ready to ask Congress for more money to pay for President Bush's troop increase in Iraq.<br/><br/>The funds would cover support personnel, and otherwise update last

Monday, March 5th 2007, 10:29 pm

By: News On 6

WHITE HOUSE (AP) The White House is ready to ask Congress for more money to pay for President Bush's troop increase in Iraq.

The funds would cover support personnel, and otherwise update last month's request for $93.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30th. The new request, which would also include more money to battle the resurgent Taliban, probably will come to about $2 billion.

The changes may be relatively modest, but they're embarrassing to the White House and the Pentagon, which earlier dismissed criticism from lawmakers that the original estimate for the troop buildup was too low.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England has told the Senate Budget Committee that about 6,000 more support personnel would be needed to complement the 21,500 additional combat troops ordered to Iraq.