Bwahaha! Fight Against Islamic State Threatens Obama's Defense Budget 'Peace Dividend'

Well, I guess "the tide of war" isn't receding so much after all, lol.

At LAT, "Cuts to defense budget threatened by battle against Islamic State":

Members of Congress and the White House anticipated a peace dividend by winding down America's foreign wars, closing bases and shedding tens of thousands of troops.

But President Obama's new, open-ended strategy to confront Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria is likely to eat into some of the nearly $500 billion in Pentagon spending cuts that were planned over the next decade.

The first five weeks of U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq has cost $262.5 million, according to the Pentagon, and Obama personally lobbied key members of Congress in recent days to appropriate $500 million to help train and arm Syrian rebels at camps in Saudi Arabia.

While that's still a pittance compared with the total $496-billion Pentagon budget, or the $1.2 trillion spent for the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the costs of intervention are certain to increase under the plan to step up airstrikes, intensify surveillance and conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Sunni extremist force and its leaders.

There are already calls in Congress to eliminate the $45 billion in sequestration spending cuts that are set to hit next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and to increase the supplemental appropriations used to fund the actual war-fighting, as opposed to other parts of the Pentagon budget.

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who chairs a House subcommittee on counter-terrorism and intelligence, said lawmakers should reconsider cuts to the defense budget to ensure the latest military venture is funded for the long haul.

"This is not just bombing a mountainside or securing a dam," he said. "This is a war that could go on for another 10, 15 years. And to do that we're going to have to recalibrate our thinking toward defense, and realize that we have to be on a wartime footing when it comes to spending."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said budget discussions were already underway to address the new national security priorities.

"Every time we talk about any initiative for the use of force or the initiation of hostilities, it's a question of resources," she said. "There is a concern and it's been brought up in our meetings. But we have a first responsibility to protect and defend. That is the oath we take."

The military action has meant a policy reversal for Obama, who vowed in May 2013 to take America off its "permanent war footing" and to curtail the use of drones. As of Saturday, the U.S. had launched 160 airstrikes in northern Iraq in five weeks, compared with 147 drone strikes over the last three years in northwest Pakistan, where Al Qaeda is still based.

For lawmakers, voting to increase military spending may be easier than approving other spending hikes, given the public outcry since videos surfaced last month showing Islamic State fighters beheading two American journalists. A third video released Saturday appeared to show the beheading of a British aid worker. Opinion polls show broad public support for U.S. airstrikes against the insurgents.

Yeah, well, I'm sure unicorns and rainbows would have been less expensive, but keep reading.