Bush asks for €23.6bn advance to fund war ops

The Bush administration has asked Congress for a €23.6bn downpayment for next year’s US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the White House’s earlier plans not to seek the money until after the November elections.

The money – half of what White House officials have said they expect to need for 2005 – is designed to carry the military through the first months of the new budget year, which starts next October 1.