Friday
Jun272008
New war funds for Bush through 2009
Friday, June 27, 2008 at 06:23PM
The US Senate has approved USD 161.8b in new funds to continue fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next year.
This new funding does not require a timetable 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.
The new war money could last through mid-2009, well past Bush's departure from office on January 20.
However, Congress did attach two conditions on the funds, related to the war in Iraq.
It prohibited the construction of permanent US military bases in Iraq and required Baghdad to match, dollar-for-dollar, US 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 .
This new funding does not require a timetable 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.
The new war money could last through mid-2009, well past Bush's departure from office on January 20.
However, Congress did attach two conditions on the funds, related to the war in Iraq.
It prohibited the construction of permanent US military bases in Iraq and required Baghdad to match, dollar-for-dollar, US 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 .
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