How Pricey Are More Troops?

Sending 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan would cost $40 billion to $54 billion, helping to increase the military budget to as much as $734 billion—a jump that could prove unpopular as the budget deficit soars and the economy remains weak. Senior House members have expressed concerns about increased war costs, and President Obama might need the support of Republicans to approve the spending over the objections of fellow Democrats. “The president focused a lot on ensuring that we were asking the difficult questions about getting to an end game here,” an official told The New York Times. “He knows we cannot sustain this indefinitely.”