WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will ask the Congress on Monday for an additional $33 billion in the current 2010 fiscal year to fund a troop increase in Afghanistan, the White House said.
Obama announced in December he was adding 30,000 more U.S. troops to the Afghan war effort to join the 68,000 already fighting a resurgent Taliban.
The $33 billion request would come on top of about $130 billion that Congress has already approved for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars through September 30, 2010.
Obama's proposed budget, which will be released at 10 a.m. EST, will also include a request for $159.3 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the 2011 fiscal year that begins October 1.
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