John Spratt: “Typically not. That means they will be added to the total amount of spending. It will go straight to the bottom line…”

“Typically not. That means they will be added to the total amount of spending. It will go straight to the bottom line, because, as I said, there is no surplus anymore to absorb the amount of money that will be needed, $50-, $100 billion, whatever it may be, and that applies also to the cost of an occupation after the war. The postwar occupation was estimated by the Congressional Budget Office at a cost of $1.8 billion per month to $3.8 billion per month, depending upon the difficulty, the size of the force. We could easily have an occupation force there trying to rebuild Iraq after the war of over 100,000 troops. General Shinsheki, who last commanded the reconstruction forces in Bosnia, has more experience than anybody. He estimated they needed over 100,000 troops, and that would cost us on the upper end of that estimate. All of this has to be added to the budget.”