Obama seeks $205 billion for Iraq, Afghan wars

President Barack Obama requested about $205 billion in war funding through the end of fiscal 2010 Thursday, as he sought to withdraw tens of thousands of troops from Iraq and boost forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Obama's first budget proposal asked for $75.5 billion through September, which would bring total war spending to $141.4 billion for the current fiscal year. Obama also requested a slightly smaller $130 billion to fund the wars for fiscal year 2010, which starts Oct. 1. Obama asked Congress to increase the Pentagon's regular budget to $533.7 billion next year -- up 4 percent, or $20.4 billion, from its spending plan for the current year, drawn up under the Bush administration. U.S. military spending accounts for roughly half the global total, according to independent experts. Total spending on the Pentagon and the wars would reach nearly $664 billion in fiscal 2010, if the plan is approved by Congress, up slightly from $656.3 billion in 2009. According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, a private think tank, the overall defense budget, including war funding, jumped 78 percent from $387 billion in fiscal 2000, set before the Sept. 11 attacks, to $687 billion in fiscal 2009.