The Defense Department is finalizing a war-cost spending request worth approximately $80 billion to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through next October, according to Pentagon officials. The latest emergency supplemental proposal, which includes nearly $50 billion for new military hardware, could be sent to Congress as soon as next week. "It's almost ready," said a Pentagon official of the second fiscal year 2009 supplemental spending request. Added to the $66 billion "bridge" appropriation allocated by Congress to cover...