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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 10th,
2009 - More Funds Sought for Iraq and Afghanistan |
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More Funds
Sought for Iraq and Afghanistan By Mary Beth Sheridan & Scott Wilson Washington Post April 10, 2009 President Obama sent
Congress an $83.4 billion spending request yesterday to fund his
administration's strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan through the summer, in
what officials promised would be the last such off-budget proposal to pay for
the wars. Obama has pledged to send
more troops and diplomats to turn around the faltering Afghan effort, while
drawing down U.S. troops in Iraq through next year. Administration officials and
others have derided the use of emergency troop-funding bills, noting that
they are not subject to usual budget ceilings and often have been rushed
through Congress. Since September 2001, Congress has approved 17 emergency
funding measures for the two wars, for a total of $822 billion, the White
House said. "We must break that
recent tradition and include future military costs in the regular budget so
that we have an honest, more accurate and fiscally responsible estimate of
federal spending," Obama said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) that accompanied the request. White House press secretary
Robert Gibbs said the special measure was needed because the conflicts in
Iraq and Afghanistan had been funded through only half of the fiscal year. "This will be the last
supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. Obama urged lawmakers not to
add "unnecessary spending" to the measure and to return it to him
quickly. Congressional staffers said the White House asked lawmakers to pass
the bill by Memorial Day. Some antiwar Democrats were
expected to balk at the multibillion-dollar request. But the measure was
expected to pass with support from most Republicans and many Democrats. "I believe that there
is very broad bipartisan support in the Congress for the decisions the
president has made with respect to both Iraq and Afghanistan," Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters yesterday. "The alternative to
the supplemental is a sudden and precipitous withdrawal [of U.S. troops] …
from both places." House Minority Leader John
A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said his party is "ready to work with the president
to again ensure quick passage of a clean troop-funding bill. Micromanaging
the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan from the U.S. Capitol is a recipe for
disaster, and I hope my Democratic colleagues understand that." But Rep. Lynn Woolsey
(D-Calif.), the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the
proposal will "prolong our occupation of Iraq through at least the end
of 2011, and it will deepen and expand our military presence in Afghanistan
indefinitely. I cannot support either of these scenarios." Nearly $76 billion of the
request would go to the Defense Department, while about $7 billion would be
sent to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International
Development, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. While most of the emergency
funding is designated for military equipment and operations, the request also
includes $1.6 billion for economic help and a "surge" of diplomatic
and civilian personnel for Afghanistan, part of Obama's recently announced
strategy for tackling the conflict there. The White House also asked for $1.4
billion for economic assistance and more diplomats and development experts
for Pakistan. The document seeks $800
million to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and assist people affected by
the crisis in Gaza, and $400 million to address the impact of the financial
crisis in developing countries. It includes nearly $90 million to safeguard
"loose nukes" worldwide and dismantle North Korea's plutonium
program. About $30 million would go toward closing the military prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a review of U.S. procedures there. The request also calls for
$66 million, recently announced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
to help buy three helicopters for Mexican anti-drug efforts. If the request is approved,
the total emergency funding for the wars in 2009 would be about $150 billion,
compared with $171 billion in 2007 and $188 billion in 2008. Staff writer Paul Kane and
researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/04/10/ST2009041000113.html |