Bush administration to request $190 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2008

www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-26 23:27:06 Print

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) --

The Bush administration will ask the Congress to allocate about 190 billion U.S. dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, agencies reports said Wednesday.

The 2008 war budget, which is subject to the approval by the Congress, registers an increase by one third than the initial projections of 141.7 billion dollars, the reports said.

In remarks prepared for a Senate testimony, Defense Secretary Robert Gates explains that the extra fund will be used to purchase mine resistant vehicles designed to protect U.S. troops against insurgent ambushes, to maintain military equipment deployed in combat fields, and consolidate U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Well aware of the controversy at home over continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, Gates suggests that the Congress approve the fund in the spirit of showing support for the U.S. troops in the oil-rich country.

"I know that Iraq and other difficult choices America faces in the war on terror will continue to be a source of friction within the Congress, between the Congress and the president and in the wider public debate," the secretary says in the prepared testimony.

"Considering this, I would like to close with a word about something I know we can all agree on -- the honor, courage and great sense of duty we have witnessed in our troops since September 11th," he says.

Under growing domestic pressure, President George W. Bush announced earlier this month a partial pullback of 21,000 troops from Iraq by next summer, while warning a full withdrawal could endanger the Iraqi government's survival and undermine U.S. efforts to fight terrorism.

But the Democrats, which controls the Congress, have threatened to block the approval of new war funds unless the Bush administration works out a timetable for a full U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Editor: Yan Liang

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