Pentagon expects to spend less next year in Afghanistan even before drawdown savings calculated

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Pentqagon said Friday it needs billions less for operations in Afghanistan next year, and that's even before the officials figure out how much the newly mandated troop drawdown in Afghanistan will save taxpayers.

Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said that in fiscal fear 2011 the Department of Defense is authorized to spend $113 billion in Afghanistan. He said for FY 2012, which starts October 1st, the budget request for Afghanistan is $107 billion, a $6 billion decrease.

And those numbers come before the withdrawal of 33,000 U.S. troops that President Obama ordered Wednesday be completed by the end of next summer. "We don't, at this point, have drawdown related costs or savings."

The FY 2012 request still hasn't passed Congress and could be changed before it's finalized.

The Pentagon, as of this April, is spending $6.2 billion per month for operations in Afghanistan, Lapan said. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mullen had testified Thursday on Capitol Hill that the military was spending $10 billion a month in Afghanistan. "That's incorrect," Lapan said.