U.S. to Spend over $6 Bn in Iraq Next Year
The United States is to spend more than $6 billion in Iraq in 2012 even though its forces are to withdraw from the country by the end of this year, US ambassador James Jeffrey said on Sunday.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced on October 21 that the last troops would leave by year's end, but Baghdad will still host the largest American embassy in the world, with up to 16,000 people at the full mission.
"We are standing up an embassy to carry out a $6.5 billion program, when you throw in the refugee programs as well as the actual State Department budget for 2012, of assistance in support for Iraq on a very broad variety of security and non-security issues," Jeffrey told reporters at a roundtable.
"The direct budget, operating and assistance (to Iraq), was $6.2" billion, Jeffrey said.
He said there was also "a little less than $300 million that goes to refugee and displaced person programs.
"It doesn't come directly onto the Iraq account ... but we get a very significant part of that here, and it's used by other agencies and activities for example in Jordan and Syria," home of sizeable Iraqi refugee communities.
U.S.-led forces toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 and faced a subsequent insurgency.
The Iraq war has left thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Source: Agence France Presse
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