Washington, Dec 03: The war in Iraq has cost the United States more than USD 350 billion since the March 2003 invasion, according to a review of Congress figures.

About USD 290 billion, including 254 billion for military operations, were allocated for the war in fiscal year 2006, which closed on September 30, according to a September 22 report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The Congressional research service estimated the cost at USD 319 billion, representing 73 per cent of us spending for the "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States .

Congress has approved USD 70 billion for the "war on terror" in the 2007 defence budget that includes about USD 50 billion for the Iraq conflict, bringing the three-and-a- half- year spending over USD 350 billion.

A Democratic Senator said last month that the Defence Department will request an additional USD 127 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , an amount that would bring the cost of the "war on terror" over USD 500 billion.

The new funding request would make the "war on terror" more expensive for the United States than Washington 's spending during the Vietnam War that ended in 1975.

The Congressional research service said in a September report that the cost of the war in Iraq rose this year to USD eight billion a month, compared to 6.4 billion a month last year.

Bureau Report