For anyone who has agonized on moving day whether to keep that old lamp, leave it for the new tenant or throw it out, be glad you aren't faced with the prospect of getting tanks, troops and Humvees out of Iraq.
In a letter sent to Congress on Wednesday, Pentagon official Gordon England claimed it was too difficult to estimate the potential cost of withdrawing U.S. hardware and troops from Iraq.
"A relatively uncomplicated decision like what equipment is to be left in place, or returned for refurbishment, or replaced can have a disproportionately large impact on the detailed planning and associated cost," the deputy defense secretary wrote.
The letter was in response to a request made in July by Democratic Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts, an outspoken critic of the 4 1/2-year-old Iraq war, to provide the House Budget Committee with cost estimates for withdrawing some U.S. troops under varying scenarios.
England's one-page letter refused to provide such estimates and questioned whether it would be appropriate to even discuss the topic publicly.
Withdrawing troops is a touchy subject with the Bush administration. In May, Democratic presidential hopeful and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton asked the Defense Department for information about contingency planning for a possible withdrawal for Iraq.
That request was met with scorn by Defense Undersecretary Eric Edelman, who said public discussion of such things "reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies."
Since then, Defense Secretary Robert Gates quelled the controversy stemming from Edelman's comment by telling Clinton that such contingency plans were underway and a "priority."
Some members of the House and Senate budget-writing panels have complained since the start of the Iraq war that the Bush administration has not been forthcoming on war costs, which have been accelerating and hover around $421 billion.