WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The Pentagon cancelled a Monday briefing on its $82 billion supplemental request to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because it was not complete.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman blamed the delay on the Office of Management and Budget, which had not yet completed the document. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the request would definitely go up to Capitol Hill Monday.
According to the White House, the request includes $42.5 billion specifically for supporting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another $12 billion is for refurbishing broken equipment and adding armor to vehicles. More than $5 billion is earmarked for Army reorganization.
Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters and Congress the 2006 regular budget request could not be considered as a separate document from the, so-far, unreleased supplemental request, because the latter contains money for equipment and Army reorganization that would otherwise be in the 2006 budget.
The Pentagon and the White House had not provided any written information on the request to the Senate Armed Services Committee by Monday.
