U.S. reluctantly reveals spy budget

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio … ;cset=true

WASHINGTON -- Forced by law to reveal how much the nation spends on its spy agencies, the Bush administration disclosed Tuesday that the country's intelligence budget was $43.5 billion last year, an increase of about 50% since the Sept. 11 attacks.

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The $43.5 billion does not include spending by the armed services on intelligence equipment and activities for military operations in the field, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Total spending on the nation's spy programs was disclosed voluntarily in 1997 and 1998 by then-CIA Director George J. Tenet. The figure for 1997 was $26.6 billion, and for 1998 it was $26.7 billion. But the numbers were again kept classified in succeeding years, although experts estimate that they probably approached $30 billion annually leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks.