thedrifter
09-27-07, 04:41 AM
DoD’s war money request met with anger
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 18:57:59 EDT
The mood was angry at the outset as Pentagon and State Department officials came to Congress to ask for money to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the fiscal year beginning Oct 1.
“War is not working! Bring them home!” shouted one of about 20 standing protesters in the center of a packed Dirksen Senate Office Building hearing room Wednesday afternoon.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” they chanted. “No blood for oil!”
The protests continued for about four minutes, until the hearing was called to order.
The protesters’ anger paled, however, beside the forceful opening statement of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who began by criticizing the administration’s request of $189.3 billion.
“If granted, we will have spent more than 600 billion! — billion! billion! — dollars” on the “nefarious and infernal war in Iraq,” the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman said, his voice rising with each repetition. He had a ready chorus in the audience — the protesters, who called out, “Yes!” or “No!” in response to various Byrd pronouncements on the war.
Seated before him, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte sat motionless. Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas thumbed through her notes.
Prior to his opening statement, Byrd acknowledged the long service of Pace, who was taking part in his final Capitol Hill hearing after six years as vice chairman and then chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
But Byrd quickly shifted gears, expressing loud dissatisfaction not only with the war but with the Pentagon’s failure to present a finalized, fully detailed funding request — the White House’s Office of Management and Budget “is still scrubbing the numbers,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters earlier — and Byrd said he had considered canceling the hearing.
Gates said the administration plans to ask for $189.3 billion — the $141.7 billion request submitted in February, another $5.3 billion requested in July to buy 1,520 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, or MRAPs, and an additional $42.3 billion.
The latter figure would include an extra $6 billion to support Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq for the entire fiscal year, on top of the $70.6 billion requested in February, and $11 billion for roughly 7,000 more MRAPs, in addition to about 8,000 already funded or requested earlier.
Another $9 billion would be added to the $37.6 billion requested earlier to fund reconstitution of equipment; $6 billion to “accelerate the deployment readiness” of Army units, which includes $1 billion to support National Guard pre-deployment training; $1 billion to improve U.S. facilities in the region and “consolidate our bases in Iraq”; and $1 billion for continued training of Iraqi security forces, in addition to the $4.7 billion requested earlier.
Gates ended his opening statement by acknowledging the widespread U.S. anger over the war by offering a tribute to the troops in the fight.
“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,” Gates said. “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.
“Under the most trying conditions, they have done far more than what was asked of them, and far more than what was expected,” Gates said. “Like all of you, I am both humbled and inspired by my trips to Walter Reed and to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan ... I always keep our troops — their safety and their mission — foremost in my mind every day.”
Ellie
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 18:57:59 EDT
The mood was angry at the outset as Pentagon and State Department officials came to Congress to ask for money to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the fiscal year beginning Oct 1.
“War is not working! Bring them home!” shouted one of about 20 standing protesters in the center of a packed Dirksen Senate Office Building hearing room Wednesday afternoon.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” they chanted. “No blood for oil!”
The protests continued for about four minutes, until the hearing was called to order.
The protesters’ anger paled, however, beside the forceful opening statement of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who began by criticizing the administration’s request of $189.3 billion.
“If granted, we will have spent more than 600 billion! — billion! billion! — dollars” on the “nefarious and infernal war in Iraq,” the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman said, his voice rising with each repetition. He had a ready chorus in the audience — the protesters, who called out, “Yes!” or “No!” in response to various Byrd pronouncements on the war.
Seated before him, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte sat motionless. Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas thumbed through her notes.
Prior to his opening statement, Byrd acknowledged the long service of Pace, who was taking part in his final Capitol Hill hearing after six years as vice chairman and then chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
But Byrd quickly shifted gears, expressing loud dissatisfaction not only with the war but with the Pentagon’s failure to present a finalized, fully detailed funding request — the White House’s Office of Management and Budget “is still scrubbing the numbers,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters earlier — and Byrd said he had considered canceling the hearing.
Gates said the administration plans to ask for $189.3 billion — the $141.7 billion request submitted in February, another $5.3 billion requested in July to buy 1,520 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, or MRAPs, and an additional $42.3 billion.
The latter figure would include an extra $6 billion to support Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq for the entire fiscal year, on top of the $70.6 billion requested in February, and $11 billion for roughly 7,000 more MRAPs, in addition to about 8,000 already funded or requested earlier.
Another $9 billion would be added to the $37.6 billion requested earlier to fund reconstitution of equipment; $6 billion to “accelerate the deployment readiness” of Army units, which includes $1 billion to support National Guard pre-deployment training; $1 billion to improve U.S. facilities in the region and “consolidate our bases in Iraq”; and $1 billion for continued training of Iraqi security forces, in addition to the $4.7 billion requested earlier.
Gates ended his opening statement by acknowledging the widespread U.S. anger over the war by offering a tribute to the troops in the fight.
“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,” Gates said. “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.
“Under the most trying conditions, they have done far more than what was asked of them, and far more than what was expected,” Gates said. “Like all of you, I am both humbled and inspired by my trips to Walter Reed and to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan ... I always keep our troops — their safety and their mission — foremost in my mind every day.”
Ellie