Originally Posted by the Boston Globe

September 21, 2007

Annual Cost For Troops In Iraq Seen At $10B-$25B

By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The cost of a long-term US military presence in Iraq similar to the peacekeeping role American troops have played in South Korea would range from $10 billion to $25 billion a year, the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday.

A Korea-like presence of 55,000 troops would cost about $25 billion a year in a "combat" scenario similar to the current mission, the nonpartisan CBO said in a report.

Keeping the troops protected at established military bases and out of combat would lower the cost to about $10 billion annually. One-time costs for base construction or additional equipment could reach $8 billion, the CBO said.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, requested the study after President Bush compared America's future in Iraq to the peacekeeping role US troops play on the Korean Peninsula, where they have been stationed for five decades.