[Peace-discuss] The Democrats' war

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Rep. Tim Johnson was one of nine Republicans who voted against the 
administration's monstrosity.  Perhaps your phone calls did some good. Now try 
it again with Illinois' senators.  Point out that you're trying to save them 
from a war crimes trial. (The Nuremberg defendants never expected to be there.) 
Lots of luck.  --CGE]

	House Approves War Funding as Democrats Criticize Obama Policy [sic]
	By Brian Faler

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House approved a $96.7 billion bill that includes 
money for President Barack Obama’s troop buildup in Afghanistan, a strategy some 
Democrats said they doubted would work.

The chamber voted 368 to 60 today to approve the legislation that also funds the 
war in Iraq. Several lawmakers said the administration has one year to show its 
plan to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan is enough to turn around 
the seven-and-a-half-year-old conflict.

The lawmakers questioned the Afghan and Pakistani governments’ ability or 
willingness to root out extremists and added provisions to the bill ordering the 
White House to submit a progress report on the war next year, before it asks 
Congress for more money.

“I don’t believe in the operation,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman 
David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat. He said lawmakers are giving Obama “every 
single thing he asked for and then some so that a year from now we can have an 
honest, hard-nosed review about whether or not that policy is receiving the kind 
of cooperation and whether those two governments are demonstrating the kind of 
activities and competence” needed to succeed.

Obey, a 40-year veteran of the House, said he had “very little faith” the U.S. 
efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan would work. “Those governments are corrupt, 
they are weak, they are chaotic, they appear to lack the focus and cohesion and 
effectiveness to turn the countries around.” He also said, “It’s a mess and 
let’s hope that, with God’s help, we can get out of it in a reasonably decent time.”

Lawmakers rejected elements of the administration’s war funding proposal, 
including its request for money to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
Some House members said the administration hasn’t adequately explained what it 
intends to do with those held there.

Added Money

Democrats, who control the House, added $12 billion to the administration’s 
spending request, including $2.25 billion to buy eight C-17 aircraft the 
Pentagon did not request.

Representative Jerry Lewis of California, the top Republican on the House 
Appropriations Committee, said he supported the legislation. He expressed 
concern, though, that it didn’t go far enough to ensure the Defense Department 
does not use other funds to move prisoners at Guantanamo to civilian facilities 
in the United States.

The Senate Appropriations Committee took up its own version of the legislation 
today. The panel intends to omit funding for the C-17s while adding Obama’s 
request for additional funding for the International Monetary Fund. Senate 
Democrats aim to complete work on the legislation by the end of next week.

The administration last month requested $83.4 billion to help fund the conflicts 
this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other initiatives. The spending 
would boost the total cost of the wars to more than $900 billion.

More Troops

Obama announced in February and March he would send a total of 21,000 additional 
troops to Afghanistan. That’s designed to bring the total number of U.S. troops 
there to 68,000 by the end of this year. Obama sent the spending bill to 
Congress last month, stressing the need for more money to fund the war in 
Afghanistan.

“This funding request will ensure that the full force of the United States -- 
our military, intelligence, diplomatic and economic power -- are engaged in an 
overall effort to defeat al- Qaeda and uproot the safe haven from which it plans 
and trains for attack,” he said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a 
California Democrat.

In subsequent congressional hearings, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary 
of State Hillary Clinton and Envoy Richard Holbrooke faced skeptical questions 
from lawmakers about whether the administration is making an open-ended 
commitment to the war in Afghanistan. The lawmakers also complained about 
corruption in the Afghan and Pakistani governments, the poppy trade there and 
the treatment of women in the region.

Pentagon Announcement

The Pentagon announced this week it was replacing the commander of U.S. forces 
in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, with Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal.

Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Obama’s troop 
buildup would only make it harder to withdraw from a war that lacks a “clearly 
defined mission.”

“I wish the current administration would do in Afghanistan what I asked the 
previous administration to do in Iraq: And that is to simply put forth a clearly 
defined policy, a clearly defined mission -- it’s not a radical idea,” McGovern 
said. “I am tired of wars with no exits, no deadlines and no end.”

The bill is H.R. 2346.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at 
bfaler at bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 14, 2009 16:15 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_sJT3FrgY_o&refer=worldwide