About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

An Alterative Budget Path Assuming Continued Spending for Military Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Support of the Global War on Terrorism [i] (2005)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo9729 and id is 1 raw text is: An Alterative Budget Path Assuming Continued Spending for Military Operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan and in Support of the Global War on Terrorism'
CBO's current baseline omits a significant amount of spending that will occur this year-and
conceivably for some time in the future-for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
and for other efforts in the war on terrorism. The statutory rules that govern such baseline
projections direct that discretionary spending should be projected by assuming that the most
recent year's discretionary budget authority is provided in each future year, with adjustments
to reflect projected inflation-using specified indexes-and other factors (such as the cost
of annualizing adjustments to federal pay). Because the discretionary budget authority for
fiscal year 2005 does not include funds for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global
war on terrorism, only spending from funds already appropriated for those purposes is
included in the baseline projections.
To illustrate the potential effect on the deficit from continued spending for those military
activities, CBO estimated the budgetary impact of one possible scenario for future military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism. This scenario is one of
many possible scenarios regarding future spending for these activities and should not be
regarded as an estimate of actual war costs or a prediction of how much budget authority the
Department of Defense (DoD) will need or request for those activities in the future.
This scenario assumes that military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities
related to the global war on terrorism continue at their current levels during 2005 and 2006,
but decline after that. Under such assumptions, discretionary outlays over the 2005-2015
period would total $448 billion more than the baseline figures presented in CBO's January
2005 Budget and Economic Outlook. (See table below.) Interest costs on the additional debt
resulting from that spending would amount to $173 billion over that period.
In estimating the spending for this scenario, CBO assumed that slightly more than 200,000
active duty and reserve personnel would be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other overseas
locations in 2005 and 2006, and that the number of troops deployed in support of the global
war on terrorism would decline to about 50,000 by 2010 and remain steady at that level for
the remainder of the period. While the assumptions about deployed troops for 2005 and 2006
are based on current force levels and known DoD plans, the assumptions for subsequent
years are hypothetical in nature. CBO assumed that, throughout the 10-year period, some
troops would be deployed overseas in operations supporting the global war on terrorism, but
not necessarily in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For 2005 and 2006, CBO assumed that in addition to reserve military personnel serving
overseas, about 60,000 reservists would be serving on active duty in the United States

1.   Shown in Table 1-3 of CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook, January 2005.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most