[Peace-discuss] Democrats for war again

[C. G. Estabrook]

[There was more real political contestation in, say, the Bulgarian parliament 50 
years ago. Six of the seven nays were Republican; only one Democrat voted no 
(Feingold).   --CGE]


	Senate OKs $626B defense budget
	October 6, 2009 08:55 PM EST

The Senate approved a $625.6 billion Pentagon budget Tuesday, ending a weeklong 
debate reflecting very different but related wars: one in Afghanistan and the 
other among aerospace giants vying to keep production lines open.

Adopted 93-7, the measure includes $128.6 billion for U.S. military operations 
overseas, a number that will almost certainly grow in 2010 as the administration 
revamps its strategy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Meeting with top 
lawmakers prior to the Senate action, President Barack Obama warned that the 
annual costs would approach $1 billion for every 1,000 troops added, and 
Afghanistan is now driving efforts to channel military spending more toward the 
immediate needs of soldiers and Marines in the field — and not the high-priced 
aircraft of the past...

“It’s not that we’re either going to get out or we’re going to put 40,000 troops 
in. That’s not what it’s all about,” Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) told POLITICO in 
paraphrasing Obama’s opening statement. “It’s trying to figure out a strategy 
that we think will work”...

Full article at 
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2C67348D-18FE-70B2-A84E836D54065BD1