Pentagon plans fund shift to cover Iraq troop increase

Tanks and Bradleys awaiting repair or parting out in the U.S.

WASHINGTON -- Senior Pentagon officials said Tuesday that they'll likely shift emergency funds from expensive weapons systems to help pay for sending more troops to Iraq and improving medical care for soldiers wounded in the wars there and in Afghanistan...

Almost $142 billion is slated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would add to the $503 billion that Congress already has appropriated, said Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., the budget panel's chairman.

England said that an emergency spending bill now before Congress could pay for some of the additional troops President Bush dispatched to Iraq. The administration is seeking more than $100 billion in emergency spending for the current fiscal year, most of it for Iraq and Afghanistan.

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