Paying the Pipers

Bush has asked for $75 billion to pay for the next month of the war. Nearly half of that money is going to pay off the bribes we doled out prior to the war's commencement.

In the chunk of change assigned to the Pentagon, $30.3 billion goes to "coercive diplomacy," $13.1 billion is for military conflict, $12 billion for stability and transition and $7.2 billion for reconstitution, according to an official breakdown given to reporters by defense officials.

Coercive diplomacy refers to the amount of money spent prior to March 20, or the beginning of the war. The money includes the cost of pre-combat work with coalition partners as well as the cost of transporting troops and equipment overseas as the lengthy diplomatic machinations continued.

This last sentence here is somewhat confusing. I'm not sure if the "pre-combat work" is included in the "coercive diplomacy" part of the budget. That seems to be what's implied, but it's not really clear.

Update: The budget for the war doesn't add up, according to the Guardian. Reuters breaks down the bribes.