Aug. 29, 2007 (LPAC)--The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives continues to give the impression that the future of the Iraq War will be decided by them after Congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq--Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker--assess the state of the war and the effect of the "surge" on Iraq's civil war. But the White House is moving ahead to demand another $50 billion additional funding for Iraq, the Washington Post said on Aug. 29. The Post said its sources were Congressional aides who had just learned that the White House supplemental request will be much bigger than expected. That means the White House is betting that it can fend off those in the Congress who are calling for rapid drawdown of the U.S. troops.

The additional $50 billion will be on top of about $460 billion in the Fiscal 2008 defense budget, and another $147 billion supplemental bill still in the pipeline in the House. This new request, at least $20 billion larger than Congressional leaders had heard earlier, will be added to the existing one, making a total of $197 billion, on top of $500 billion already spent or in the pipeline.

One administration official, who spoke to the Washington Post under the condition of anonymity, said, "This is pretty close to a done deal." Almost all the spending is relatively "noncontroversial," he added, with the vast majority of it necessary just to keep the present size of U.S. military operating in Iraq.

The official told the Post the official announcement requesting the additional $50 billion will be made right after Petraeus and Crocker make their appearances before the House in mid-September.