$100bn more to fight terror

AMERICAN spending on Iraq and Afghanistan has eclipsed the cost of the Vietnam War, making the War on Terror the second most expensive conflict in United States' history.

The Senate approved a budget of almost $100 billion (50 billion) for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, taking total spending to 300 billion.

This is more than the inflation-adjusted 276 billion that the US spent in its ill-fated nine-year war in Vietnam. Only the Second World War cost more.

It means the war has cost more than 1,000 for every man, woman and child in America, with more money going on Iraq than the country's total spending on education and justice.

Last night, Ricardo Sanchez, the now-retired US general who led coalition troops in the Iraq war for more than a year after Baghdad's fall, said the situation was bleak and that only a large, long-term troop commitment could keep the US from facing defeat.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership, we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will - not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," Lt -Gen Sanchez said.

He said the situation in Iraq was not hopeless. He recommended dramatically improved US and Iraqi leadership and a commitment of at least 100,000 troops for six or seven more years. However, he acknowledged that public support for such a move may no longer be available.

"It's very questionable," he said. "In terms of the will of the American people, I think that's pretty frayed at this point."

Lt-Gen Sanchez is not the only high-ranking former military leader to criticise the war's handling.

Retired Major-General John Batiste has appeared in television commercials accusing the George Bush administration of pursuing "a failed strategy that is breaking our great army."

And prospects for an early end to the war appeared to crumble yesterday with the re-emergence in Iraq of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the killing of one of his deputies in a British operation in Basra.

The decision to approve funding marks a reversal for the Democrat-controlled Congress, which had demanded the White House set a timetable for withdrawal as the price for getting new money.

But when Mr Bush refused, and with the army about to run out of money, Congress changed its mind. The Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama both voted against the bill - two out of only 14 senators to do so - leaving the party badly split and questions being asked about its Congressional leadership.

John McCain, a Republican senator and presidential hopeful, accused the two senators of "waving a white flag to al-Qaeda".

The cost of America's war in Iraq has ballooned from the 25 billion estimate that the White House gave in January 2003, when it planned on a short invasion followed by early withdrawal. The increase in spending came as opposition to the war hit record levels. A New York Times/CBS poll recorded a record 76 per cent of Americans disapprove of the war, while only 20 per cent believe the present "troop surge" is working.

Meanwhile, the US army has speculated that Sadr has been in Iran for talks with Iranian leaders. His call for a united front against the coalition came as British and Iraqi forces pounced on one of Sadr's deputies in Basra.

Wissam al-Waili, a radical cleric and key commander in Sadr's al-Mahdi army, was shot dead outside a mosque where he had been preaching. British forces said they acted in support of Iraqi special forces who mounted the operation, but the Iraqis insisted it was British troops who took the lead.

The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al-Qaeda-led group, said the new funding for US forces would not help Washington to win the war.

"The tyrant of this era, Bush, came out and said the coming days in Iraq would be difficult. We say that, God willing, they will be tougher days on the enemies than past ones," it said.

April was the worst month this year for the US military since the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, with 104 soldiers killed.

Disapproval of the US president is hovering at 68 per cent, not quite the worst figure Mr Bush has received, but a sign that his "troop surge" has failed to dent unpopularity at home.

A total of 3,400 soldiers have died and 25,000 have been seriously wounded. A total of 55,000 rebels are reported dead, but insurgent groups appear as strong as ever.

A Congressional study has found that despite billions spent on training, Iraq has just 6,000 troops willing to operate independently from the coalition forces - with the rest refusing to fight unless backed by US firepower.

The study indicates it will be years before Iraq has an army capable of battling the rebels.