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US thrashes out Iraq war funding
Washington (AFP) Dec 18, 2007 Despite deep differences over the Iraq war, the White House and the US Congress on Tuesday groped towards a year-end budget deal that could put a down-payment on the unpopular conflict's future costs. The US Senate was expected to vote on a half-trillion catch-all budget bill for 2008, passed late Monday by the House of Representatives, which included 31 billion dollars solely for US-led efforts in Afghanistan but none for Iraq. US President George W. Bush's Democratic foes hold both chambers, but his Republican allies in the Senate reportedly planned to increase the figure to a total 70 billion dollars for both wars. The White House had threatened to veto the entire bill if it contained no funding for Iraq. "Obviously, the full funding that we requested since February is what the troops need -- not just what they want, but what they need. But this will help us get through this period," said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino. Democrats, who took over the US Congress in November 2006 elections fueled by anger at the war in Iraq, have tried without success to use their power of the purse to impose a timetable for withdrawal from the strife-torn country where nearly 4,000 US troops have died since the March 2003 invasion. Democrats reportedly also gave up several billion dollars' worth of other budget demands rejected by Bush, in order to see the spending measure passed before the year-end recess. Touting the bill Monday, the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, branded Bush "shortsighted," accusing him of opposing parts of the budget for areas such as education and healthcare. "The budget bill we passed tonight ends seven years of failed Bush administration economic policies that are out of touch with the concerns of the American people," she said in a statement. Ahead of Monday's vote, Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also slammed Bush as "not fiscally responsible" for refusing certain domestic spending demands while also calling for more money to spend on the war. "This legislation is far from perfect. But it does reject many of the president's misguided budget cuts," Hoyer said in a statement. During a speech on the economy in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Monday, Bush warned that he would not shy from using his veto power while saying he was "pleased" about the way the debate was going. "We're making some pretty good progress toward coming up with a fiscally sound budget -- one that meets priorities, helps on some emergencies, and enables us to say that we've been fiscally sound," he said. Related Links Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century
Recreating Iraq
Washington (UPI) Dec 17, 2007 This column is a product of the Fourth Generation War seminar, whose earlier products include the Field Manual FMFM 1-A, Fourth Generation War. The seminar, which I lead, is composed of U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army officers, mostly captains. |
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