Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that the Congressional Budget Office’s report estimating the cost of President Bush’s troop “surge” in Iraq “dramatically overstates” both the cost of the force increase and the number of personnel to be sent. According to Government Executive, he told reporters Friday that the Administration’s financial figures are only for the current fiscal year; CBO estimated the cost through 2009. Gates also said the increase would last for months rather than years.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.

