As a result, the U.S. Congress can not reliably know the current or future cost of the Global War on Terror, or GWOT, due to concerns over the Department of Defense's expense reporting, the Government Accountability Office study concluded.

The GAO report was part of the testimony at a July 18 hearing in the Government Reform subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives on the accuracy and reliability of cost estimates for the Global War on Terrorism.

Prior GAO studies have found problems with DOD recording and reporting of GWOT costs, including inadequate supporting documentation for expenses and deficiencies and gaps in cost reporting.

No government agency besides the DOD formally tracks GWOT costs, making accurate DOD expense data crucial to Congress' ability to efficiently deliver funding and decisions to combat terrorism.

The costs for GWOT overseas operations reported by the DOD have steadily increased each year from 2001 through 2005, growing from $105 million to $81.5 billion. The augmenting expenses have some in Congress fidgeting over war spending and demanding dependability from the DOD.

"Costs are spiraling out of control with inadequate accountability," said Congressman Henry Waxman, D- Calif., ranking minority member of the Committee on Government Reform. He called Iraq "a quagmire of waste and incompetence."

The GWOT is slated to cost half a trillion dollars in all by the end of next year, according to the Congressional Research Service, far exceeding an early estimate from the president's budget office of $50 billion dollars.

John P. Roth, deputy comptroller at the DOD and 22-year veteran of the comptroller's office, said he neither recalled the $50 billion estimate nor had any idea where it originated.

"My office did not make any attempt to make a multi-year estimate of what the cost of the war might be," he said. "We focused on providing the supporting material for the given supplemental at the time."

Roth said the DOD has not made projected costs or force levels past this year "because of the unpredictability of the nature of the war."

The CRS stated in a report released July 18 that the DOD has worked towards greater visibility by expanding the number of categories for reporting war expenses and requiring military services to explain monthly cost variances. However, an initial review by the GAO suggested that the DOD had yet to fully implement measures aimed at improvement.

The report also stated that DOD data continues to contain discrepancies between budget authorizations and obligated expenses, inconsistent estimates of troop levels and reporting gaps.

The GAO and the CRS reported that from November of 2004 through April of 2005, the DOD inadvertently counted costs twice, leading to nearly $1.8 billion in redundantly reported expenses.

The GAO reported in 2005 that the "DOD's business management weaknesses continue to result in billions in annual waste, as well as reduced efficiencies and effectiveness."

From fiscal year 2001 through FY2002, DOD obligations exceeded budget authority by $1.2 billion; costs exceeded funds by $2 billion in FY2004, according to the CRS. The source of $2.5 billion in expenses in Iraq for FY2002 was unclear, the agency reported. The CRS also stated that $30 billion in GWOT appropriations did not appear in reported costs between FY2003 and FY2006.

The CRS also cited the estimation of troop levels as a problematic area. The CRS reported that the DOD troop level estimates in 2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom varied across department sources. Three estimates from the DOD pegged troop levels at 250,000 to 300,000, with 202,000-260,000 serving in OIF and 20,000-60,000 serving in OEF.

The GAO identified the use of estimates instead of actual costs as a factor skewing the DOD's cost reporting. In FY2004, the DOD's reported obligations for mobilized army reservists were based mainly on estimated data, and differed from payroll information by as much as $2.1 billion.

The CBO and CRS criticized the DOD for entering war and peacetime funds in the same accounts, making it difficult to track GWOT expenses. However, this practice facilitates the shifting of finances to pay for war expenses if the DOD is waiting for more funding. Amy Belasco, specialist in national defense at the CRS, said that separate accounts may be justified for war funding, since it composes about one-fifth of all DOD budget authority.

The CRS in its report suggested creating separate accounts for each of the three GWOT military operations -- OIF, OEF, and Operation Noble Eagle -- to increase transparency and allow the comparison of yearly costs.

The CBO stated in a report also released July 18 that supplemental budget requests and monthly obligation reports from the DOD often did not provide enough detail to determine how the DOD develops its budget and how funds have been obligated. A 2005 GAO report cited DOD problems categorizing expenses. The agency reported that 25 percent of GWOT costs were justified as "other" in monthly obligation reports for FY2005.

"There are basically no details for what drives the costs," Belasco said. "In general, it's very hard to get information" from the DOD, she said.

The DOD monthly reports do not track obligations for classified programs or provide details on the pace of operations, such as troop levels, flying hours or vehicle miles, which would help in analyzing monthly cost variances, the CBO report stated.

The CBO also complained that it often does not receive monthly reports on war obligations until months after the data is approved for release. The DOD did not issue cost reports for October through December 2005 until March 2006, according to the GAO.

However, Congress recently directed the DOD to provide cost reports within 45 days after the end of the month being reported, and the GAO said it received cost data on schedule for March and April.

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