Footnote to the preceding

Something else that one day of the Iraq war could finance: maintaining US food donations to hungry nations around the world.

Aid groups are asking Congress for a 70 percent increase in supplemental funding this year to ensure that historically high commodity prices don't truncate U.S. food aid donations.

The groups say at least $600 million is needed this year to avoid gaps in food donations and help those hardest hit by skyrocketing prices for staples like bread and milk.

Food aid is too often an afterthought, done as emergency aid in a crisis with attendant risks of higher costs (and thus lower volume of food) and delayed shipments (and thus more deaths), rather than up-front donations which can be used both to relieve hunger and to help fund long-term development that can reduce the need for future aid.

This year appears no different from that "afterthought" norm: Bush has only asked for $350 million in supplemental funding, less than 60% of what aid groups say is immediately needed - and Congress has failed to act on the request, even though it was submitted months ago.