Lawmakers rebuke govt for delay in giving war costs

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) British parliamentarians criticised the government today for failing to include the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Ministry of Defence's main financial estimates for the year.

''The MoD is incurring costs in the current financial year without parliamentary approval and without even providing Parliament with an outline indication of the costs likely to be incurred,'' the cross-party Defence Committee said in a report.

''This is entirely unacceptable and we cannot understand why the MoD fails to see this.'' The Ministry of Defence said it keeps the war expenses out of its main annual forecast because it is hard to predict the costs in advance, but informs parliament in two reports later in the year.

''The fast-moving pace of military operations means it is difficult to forecast operations at one point in the year, which is why the MoD provides two updated estimates to Parliament in the spring and winter,'' a spokeswoman said.

''The estimates that are presented need to be taut and realistic and reflect fast-moving operations circumstances.'' Reuters SZ SBA VP0210