President Barack Obama will ask lawmakers Friday for an additional $3.2 billion to pay for the war against the Islamic State group of Iraq and Syria, including funds to train and arm Baghdad government forces, officials said Thursday. The funds will help cover the cost of replacing bombs in the weeks-long U.S.-led air campaign against ISIS militants and assistance for Iraqi army troops and Kurdish forces battling the ISIS on the ground, two defence officials told AFP. The air war in Syria and Iraq — which commanders say could last years — has involved thousands of sorties and hundreds of bombing raids, at a daily cost of $8.3 million, according to the Pentagon. The request to approve money for the air campaign follows comments by Obama on Wednesday saying he will ask Congress to approve new legal authority for the war. The White House had said previously there was no need for Congress to weigh in on war power authorities. The funding request will come as an amendment to the Pentagon’s de facto war budget, known as the overseas contingency operations (OCO) fund, officials said. In June, the administration requested $58.6 billion for the war operations budget for the current fiscal year, which began October 1, but since then the United States launched a major air campaign in Iraq described as a “credit card” to cover the cost of wars and is separate from the regular defense “base” budget that is supposed to cover weapons programs, wages and other items not directly associated with fighting wars. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)
