TMCnet News
US Senate OKs $91.3b war funding billKABUL, May 22, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- Refusing to provide funds sought by President Barrack Obama for the closure of the Guantanamo detention camp, the Senate has approved a $91.3 billion military spending bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to news channels monitored here, senators voted 86-3 to give the go-ahead to the bill that allows the Obama administration to ramp up the war in Afghanistan and provides funding for military and diplomatic operations in the conflict-devastated country. Under the relevant procedure, the upper house will have to reconcile differences with the House of Representatives that okayed a $96.7 billion version of the measure. Following its final approval, the bill is expected to jack up the US cost of the two wars to more than $900 billion. Included in the bill are $22 billion for military hardware like F-22 fighter jets, $4.2 billion for armoured vehicles to protect soldiers from explosive devices and $1.5 billion to control a global disease pandemic. Ironically, Senate Democrats joined forces with Republicans to excise from the bill an amount of $80 million President Obama has sought to shut the much-criticised US naval base in Cuba, where terror suspects from different parts of the globe are being held. Earlier, the Senate scorned presidential plans to transfer Guantanamo Bay inmates to US jails and refused funding to close down the prison camp in a hurry. They overwhelmingly voted for stalling Obamas request for $80m, stopping the transfer of the 240 Gitmo prisoners. |