Conducting a sustained campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will require increasing the Pentagons budget, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.
Were going to require additional funding from Congress as we go forward, Hagel said at a Pentagon press conference.
Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the new commitments for Iraq and Syria have created a budget shortfall in the Defense Departments $554.2 billion request for fiscal 2015, which includes $58.6 billion for warfighting. The request for the year that begins Oct. 1 is pending before Congress.
In fiscal 2016, the Pentagon may face the return of the automatic budget cuts called sequestration, which would cut $35.3 billion from a planned base budget of $535 billion. That includes a $10.3 billion reduction for the Air Force, which is flying most of the combat missions over Iraq and Syria.
So far this year, Congress has rejected proposed reductions in military pay and compensation and the retirement of weapons systems, such as the aging A-10 fighter, that would have saved billions of dollars, Dempsey said at the news conference.
If youre asking me do I assess right now, as we go into the fall review for 16, that were going to have budget problems -- yes, Dempsey said.
Hagel said the Pentagon is spending $7 million to $10 million a day on operations in Iraq, and now Syria, that began Aug. 8 and include airstrikes, humanitarian air drops and the addition of what will soon be 1,600 U.S. advisers and headquarters personnel in Iraq.
This week has been an important week for the U.S. and our coalition forces as we began airstrikes in Syria, said Hagel, who used an acronym for Islamic States former name. Along with France, weve conducted over 200 airstrikes in Iraq against ISIL and in support of Iraqi forces. With our Arab partners, weve conducted 43 airstrikes in Syria. The allies have included Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. and allies conducted more than 3,900 air missions over Iraq and Syria through yesterday, according to U.S. Central Command data. This includes 1,448 combat missions over Iraq and 127 over Syria; 651 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights; and 1,330 flights by refueling tankers.
Warplanes and two Navy vessels have dropped or launched 272 bombs, missiles and cruise missiles into Syria and 374 bombs or missiles on Islamic State targets in Iraq.
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Iraq, Syria Conflicts to Require More Money, Hagel Says