The Defense Department's updated $69.7 billion war cost estimate for the balance of fiscal year 2009 falls more than 20 percent short of the total sum Pentagon leaders believe the military requires to repair and replace battle-worn equipment and fund a larger U.S. presence in Afghanistan, according to a previously unreported DOD document. A briefing slide accompanying a Dec. 31 letter from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lawmakers, which outlines what Gates calls a "personal assessment" of remaining FY-09 war...
