Congress Funds Wars With Billions to Spare
After the president signs a $106 billion emergency supplemental, the U.S. will have shelled out about $1 trillion in "emergency" funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- not including the Pentagon's obscene annual budget, exponentially expanding health care costs for wounded troops, and the interest on all that debt. True to form, lawmakers threw in $2.7 billion worth of cargo planes no one asked for.
After the president signs a $106 billion emergency supplemental, the U.S. will have shelled out about $1 trillion in “emergency” funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — not including the Pentagon’s obscene annual budget, exponentially expanding health care costs for wounded troops, and the interest on all that debt. True to form, lawmakers threw in $2.7 billion worth of cargo planes no one asked for.
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The bill includes about $80 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The Pentagon has predicted that the Army could begin running out of money for personnel and operations as early as July without the infusion of more money.
It also provides $4.5 billion, $1.9 billion above what the president requested, for lightweight mine-resistant vehicles, called MRAPs, and $2.7 billion for eight C-17 and seven C-130 cargo planes that the Pentagon did not ask for.
On the nonmilitary front, there’s $10.4 billion in development and other aid for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and numerous other countries; $7.7 billion for pandemic flu preparedness; and $721 million to pay off what the U.S. owes for U.N. peacekeeping operations.
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