# The two hundred billion dollar war request

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The two hundred billion dollar war request," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-two-hundred-billion-war-request/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Defense Department's supplemental request for the 2026 Iran war, made without consulting Congress. John Kiriakou's contribution is his verdict on the Republicans who dropped their objections on the grounds that wartime is no time for questions: a bunch of cowards.*

- **The ask:** $200 billion for the [Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war)
- **Congress:** Not consulted
- **The stated objection dropped:** "Now's not the time to be asking questions"
- **Kiriakou's verdict:** "Bunch of cowards"
- **Comparison:** More than the entire Gulf War, adjusted for inflation

**The two hundred billion dollar war request** was the Defense Department's supplemental funding request for the [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war), submitted without Congress having been consulted about the war itself.

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s interest was in how quickly congressional resistance collapsed. The hardcore Republicans, he noted, had begun saying *"we don't want to put our war fighters in harm's way, so now's not the time to be asking questions."* His assessment of that position was three words: *"Bunch of cowards."*[1]

## Burden sharing

The scale was put to him as exceeding the entire cost of the Gulf War even after adjusting for inflation, and he agreed.[2] What the comparison brought to mind was the financing arrangement of the earlier war, which he described as *"that thing called burden sharing, where we actually made the Kuwaitis pay for everything"* — that is, *"pay for the cost of their own liberation."*[2]

He recalled that the same idea had been floated for Iraq, with a dry note on the outcome: *"but I don't know how that worked out."*[2] On whether Congress would pay up anyway, he was not optimistic — *"Congress is a bunch of lickspittles, but we'll see what happens."*[2]

The daily running cost of the war is treated at [cost of the 2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cost-of-the-2026-iran-war).

## See also

- [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war)
- [Cost of the 2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cost-of-the-2026-iran-war)
- [Kuwait Liberation Day](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kuwait-liberation-day)
- [The war powers resolution vote](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-war-powers-resolution-vote)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 00:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=38s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 01:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=68s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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