President Wants More Money for the War
The president will ask Congress to approve $245 billion in additional funds for "military and diplomatic operations" in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next two years when he submits his budget on Monday. We're guessing not much of that would actually be spent on diplomacy.
The president will ask Congress to approve $245 billion in additional funds for “military and diplomatic operations” in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next two years when he submits his budget on Monday. We’re guessing not much of that would actually be spent on diplomacy.
Wait, before you go…AP:
Keeping troops in Iraq for another year and a half will cost nearly a quarter-trillion dollars – about $800 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. – under the budget President Bush will submit to Congress Monday.
Bush will ask for $100 billion more for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year and seek $145 billion for 2008, a senior Pentagon official said Friday. Those requests come on top of about $344 billion spent for Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
At the same time, Bush’s budget request will propose cost curbs on Medicare providers, a cap on subsidy payments to wealthier farmers and an increase to $4,600 in the maximum Pell Grant for low-income college students.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
Wounds of War
Remembering the day that a war designed never to end began.
Global Voices
Crisscrossed by heroin transit routes from neighboring Afghanistan, the country’s youth confront a growing opioid epidemic.
Courts & Law
UN special rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin noted that the US treatment of detainees was “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Middle East
Amid a severe drought, Afghan scientists are asking the international community to engage with the brutal new regime.
The much-awaited US-Taliban agreement could finally end the longest U.S. war, but an end to violence is not assured.
President Trump may have surrendered to the Taliban, but as Truthdig columnist Danny Sjursen notes, that may not amount to the end of the conflict.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.