27 June 2008 - 03H44
US Congress approves new Iraq, Afghan war funds
The US Senate has approved 162 billion dollars in new funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next year without timetables for troop withdrawal. The bill is expected to be promptly approved by President George W. Bush.
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday
approved $161.8 billion in new funds to continue fighting the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next year, without
timetables for withdrawing combat troops.
The House of Representatives passed an identical bill last
week. President George W. Bush is expected to promptly sign the
measure into law once he receives it from Congress.
The Senate's 92-6 vote to pass the war-funding bill marked
a victory for Bush, who has vigorously opposed any move by
Congress to impose timetables for ending the Iraq war, now in
its sixth year.
Democrats, who are the majority party in Congress,
repeatedly had tried to set such dates, most recently with a
House vote in May calling for troop withdrawals to be completed
by December 31, 2009.
The new war money could last through mid-2009, well past
Bush's departure from office on Jan. 20.
With this legislation, Democrats can claim victory in
winning passage of a significant expansion of veterans'
education benefits and domestic unemployment benefits.
The new money for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan puts the
war tab since late 2001 at more than $800 billion, with most of
that money going to Iraq.
Congress did attach two conditions on the funds, related to
the war in Iraq. It prohibited the construction of permanent
U.S. military bases in Iraq and required Baghdad to match,
dollar-for-dollar, U.S. reconstruction aid.
Now that Congress has passed the final war-funding bill of
Bush's presidency, debate of the Iraq war and how to end it
moves to the presidential campaigns being waged by Democrat
Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans get a huge new benefit
with this legislation: A significant expansion of college
tuition payments by the government at a cost of about $63
billion over 11 years.
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Comments
what a waste of money and human life
what a waste of money.
America armed the taliban against the russians , trained them and now they spend billions fighting them?
America arm saddam against iran and then they overthrow him detroy iraq and get ready to support an attack on iran?
It is no wonder that the muslims look apon america as the great satan when they contribute so much misery to the middle east and if anyone questions them, they are called terrorists,illegally imprisoned, torchered and what do they mean when they talk about freedom when they are the biggest cause of unrest in the world, the only country to use nuclear bombs.
I feel saddened for the children that will die because of ignorance and stupidity of the american people who vote for senators who support wars of murder and call it liberation.
These wars will be a failure and the resources that should have been used for the good of the people will make the people suffer.
The war in afghanistan has insured that they are now the biggest suppliers in the world of heroin with the help of americas overthrowing of the taliban who were severe on drug trafficers.
When you go to fill you car with fuel the reason you are pay twice as much as you should is because of american middle east aggression. The reason why third world countries are war ravaged and underdeveloped is because of americas exploitationof natural resources as well as it puppet government which they encourage to go to war with each other and then america makes money from selling arms to each of them,
They have the oil fields in iraq and now they are keeping an eye on iran.
If obama is sincere he faces an impossible task because at the moment it seems the american economy is dependent on wars and it seems that they are relentless in their thirst for money,oil and blood.
Now they have the support of the german and french pesident and i would imagine that this is what the lisbon treaty was all about. Sending daughter and son out to fight senseless wars that punish the innocent.