Please get out your pocketbooks:

In February, Bolten said the president would seek as much as $50 billion next year. Now, the Pentagon is preparing to maintain a force of 138,000 for at least the next 18 months.

One House Appropriations Committee aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the full cost of war in 2005 will be around $65 billion, more than 21/2 times the president's request.

Rep. David Obey (Wis.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said that with the cost of securing embassies and building a new embassy in Iraq, the cost would reach $75 billion.