Washington: With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing more than expected, US President George W Bush has asked Congress to establish a 4 25 billion contingency reserve fund to meet military costs in the two countries.

"I am requesting that Congress establish a $ 25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops and to make sure we succeed in these critical fronts in the war on terror," he said in a statement yesterday (May 5, 2004).

"While we do not know the precise costs for operations next year, recent developments on the ground and increased demands on our troops indicate the need to plan for contingencies," Bush said.

He said that his administration would later seek a full supplemental request for fiscal 2005 (beginning October 1, 2004). "When we can better estimate precise costs," he said.

Bush has included no war funding in his fiscal 2005 budget. He had hoped to avoid such a request until after the November election. Congress has already approved two wartime emergency spending bills totalling $ 168 billion of which $ 149 went to Iraq.

The $ 25 billion request takes the total to $ 193 billion.

The cost will escalate because the US now wants to keep 135,000 troops in Iraq until the end of next year. Initially, it had hoped that Iraq's oil revenue would suffice to meet all costs after the initial cost of the military offensive. It had not anticipated the insurgency and the need to keep troops much longer than had earlier been thought necessary.

In the US Senate, Democratic minority leader Tom Daschle called the announcement "a major policy shift" by the Bush administration.