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NEWS ABOUT: Iraq war spending

Iraq war spending stories: 31 news summaries

1 - 20 of 31 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Obama's Cell Phone Plea Helps Clear War Funds

Last-minute tensions healed; measure set to pass next week

Jun 12, 09 7:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Congressional leaders settled on a $106 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan last night, but it took a last-minute intervention by President Obama via Rahm Emanuel's cell phone. When talks got bogged down over the release of detainee photos, Emanuel rushed to the Capitol and had... More »

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Congress • White House • Guantanamo Bay • auto industry • Guantanamo prisoners • spending bill • flu • defense spending • Iraq war spending • torture photos

(Newser) - At a White House “fiscal responsibility summit” today, President Obama opened fire on what he called the Bush administration’s “casual dishonesty” about the federal budget, Politico reports. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” Obama said, “we cannot simply spend... More »

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Bush administration • accounting • economic stimulus package • federal budget • Iraq war spending • George W. Bush • Obama administration • disaster relief • President Obama • dishonesty

ANALYSIS

As Troops Exit Iraq, US Spends More on Contractors

$1.2B spent for private security firms; critics say Iraqis should be picking up slack instead

Aug 28, 08 1:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - American troops are trickling home, but at a hefty cost: The US has spent more than $1.2 billion this year on private security contractors—mostly to protect diplomats, but also to secure infrastructure and supplies, USA Today reports. The State Department says now that focus has shifted to rebuilding,... More »

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contractors • security contractors • Iraq contractors • Iraq war • Iraq war spending

US Contractor Bills in Iraq
to Hit $100B

Workers outnumber troops, account for
20% of war spending

Aug 12, 08 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - By the end of the year, the US will have spent $100 billion on private defense contractors in Iraq, a congressional report finds, showing more private-sector reliance than any previous wartime. Some 20% of funds spent on the war have gone to contractors, whose numbers are now greater than the... More »

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US military • Halliburton • security contractors • Iraq contractors • KBR • Iraq war • Iraq war spending

 Iraq Has $79B Budget Surplus 

GAO says Bagdad sitting on a lot of money, raising complaints from US senators

Aug 5, 08 7:45 PM CDT
(AP) - The Iraqi government could end this year with as much as a $79 billion cumulative budget surplus, based largely on ever-increasing oil revenues, US congressional auditors say. A report by the Government Accountability Office made public today prompted renewed calls from senators that Baghdad pay more of the bill for... More »

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Iraq • John Warner • GAO • Carl Levin • Iraq reconstruction • Iraq war spending

OPINION

War Spending Strategy: Soak the Grandkids

War without taxes defies all of US history. Why are we allowing it?

Jun 11, 08 11:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - As Congress tackles the latest "emergency" spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the total to more than $860 billion, Ruth Marcus notes in the Washington Post: "For the first time in American history, every penny of that amount will have been borrowed. For the first time, billions... More »

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Congress • taxes • war funding • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • war cost • George W. Bush

 Audit Shows Billions Unaccounted for in Iraq

Almost $8.2B in Iraq War funding evaded federal rules, reports the Pentagon

May 23, 08 11:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in taxpayer money spent in Iraq found that nearly all of the handouts skirted federal rules, and millions of dollars in contracts were awarded with little or no record of what they were for, reports the New York Times. Take the $320.8... More »

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Pentagon • contractors • US military • audit • Iraq contractors • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • IAP

OPINION

 Make Dams and Food,
 Not War and Ethanol 

A dollar of prevention is worth many times that in cure, researcher pleads

May 22, 08 4:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ethanol is among the "poor solutions to high-profile problems" researcher Bjorn Lomborg blasts in the Wall Street Journal. According to calculations by his Copenhagen Consensus, “carbon mitigation policies” return only 90 cents for every dollar spent; in contrast, he writes, $1 billion spent on tuberculosis would result in... More »

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philanthropy • civil war • food shortage • environmental impact • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • carbon emissions • international aid

House Rejects $162.5B Bill
to Fund Wars

Republicans abstain
in protest, leading
to surprise defeat

May 15, 08 5:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House today shot down a $162.5 billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year after a surprise tactic by angry Republicans, the Washington Post reports. The bill failed by a vote of 148-141 after 132 members of the GOP abstained. By doing so,... More »

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Iraq • Congress • House of Representatives • war funding • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • Afghanistan war

Dems Assail McCain on War

Obama would defy Petraeus to withdraw; DNC ads knock Mac's '100 years' in Iraq

Apr 27, 08 4:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain clashed over Iraq today, as the DNC readies an ad campaign criticizing McCain's now-infamous remark about keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years. In a Fox News interview, Obama pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq even if Gen. David Petraeus advised against it. But the... More »

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Iraq • Barack Obama • John McCain • Iraq pullout • Howard Dean • US troops • troop withdrawal • Obama 2008 • campaign advertising • advertising campaign • McCain 2008 • campaign commercials • Iraq exit strategy • DNC • Iraq war spending

 'Too Old' Byrd
 to Critics:
 Shut Up! 

Senator, 90, flexes muscle at hearing

Apr 17, 08 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - History's longest-serving senator has two words for people who think he's no longer up to the job of chairing the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee: "Shut up." Democrat Robert Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized twice this year but his management of a two-hour hearing on Iraq war spending yesterday... More »

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Senate • Harry Reid • Dick Durbin • Senate Appropriations Committee • Iraq war spending • Robert Byrd

Petraeus Sees No New Troop Buildup in Iraq

General wraps up
two days of testimony before Congress

Apr 9, 08 8:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Gen. David H. Petraeus told the House Armed Forces Committee today that he does not foresee another buildup of US armed forces in Iraq, calling the possibility of a new surge "a pretty remote thought in my mind." If violences escalates again, the Army will make do with... More »

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Iraq • troop surge • David Petraeus • US troops • troop withdrawal • House Armed Services Committee • troop levels • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • war cost • troop drawdown


 Feds Renew
 Blackwater Deal 

FBI still probing incident that left 17 Iraqis dead

Apr 4, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Washington renewed Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract for another year today pending two probes into the contractor's conduct in Iraq, the AP reports. The FBI is still investigating a Baghdad shooting last year in which Blackwater guards gunned down 17 civilians and sparked outrage among Iraqis; US lawmakers are also probing... More »

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FBI • State Department • Blackwater • security contractors • Iraq war • Iraq war spending

 Cops Arrest 160 at Iraq Protests 

Demonstrations staged across the US on war's anniversary

Mar 19, 08 11:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Police arrested more than 160 protesters today at demonstrations across the US to  mark the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Iraq war, Reuters reports. More than 100 were arrested in San Francisco alone, where demonstrators staged a "die-in" and disrupted busy Market Street. About 30 were arrested... More »

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Iraq • San Francisco • IRS • protests • National Mall • anti war movement • peace • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • political demonstrations

 Americans Blame War 
 for Economic Woes: Poll 

71% see negative impact; 61% want quick withdrawal from next president

Mar 19, 08 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Iraq war and the current economic crisis aren’t unrelated issues in the minds of most Americans, a CNN poll finds. 71% said the war, which began five years ago today, helped cause the economic storm. Just 32% support the mission, with 61% saying the new president should withdraw... More »

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Iraq • Bush administration • poll • recession • Iraq war • economy • Iraq war spending • George W. Bush

Iraq's Toll Spirals Into Trillions

Iraq may cost up to $12.5B each month

Mar 10, 08 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - In 2002 Donald Rumsfeld envisioned an Iraq war price tag of "something under $50 billion," but a Harvard professor and a Nobel-prize winning economist now pin the total cost at $3 trillion, with a "running cost" of $12.5 billion a month. As the Iraq war enters... More »

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veterans • Donald Rumsfeld • oil price • Iraq war • Linda Bilmes • Joseph Stiglitz • Iraq war spending • war cost

Oil-Rich Iraq Should Fund Reconstruction, Say Senators

US taxpayers are footing bill instead

Mar 9, 08 2:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Why isn't an Iraq that's rolling in oil dollars funding its own reconstruction? senators Carl Levin of Michigan and John Warner of Virginia want to know. The Armed Services' Committee honchos wrote the Government Accountability Office saying Iraq is doing little to help itself despite a projected $100 billion in... More »

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Congress • oil • John Warner • Carl Levin • oil price • Iraq reconstruction • senator • Iraq war • Iraq war spending

More US Troops Outfitting Themselves for Combat

With slow supply chain—and style—among concerns, market grows to $150M annually

Mar 6, 08 1:39 PM CST
(Newser) - US troops are increasingly augmenting their military-issue gear with higher-end commercial products to gain an extra edge—and look sharp, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The military has encouraged the trend, perhaps in response to the equipment shortages that have dogged the Iraq and Afghanistan war efforts, loosening procurement rules... More »

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Iraq • Afghanistan • privatization • House Armed Services Committee • Iraq war • supply chain • military gear • military equipment • Commando Military Supply • Tactical Tailor • Oakley • Gore-Tex • Operation Helmet • DefenseWatch • Iraq war spending

GOP Senators Try to Outflank Dems on Iraq Funding Bill

See chance to show war is succeeding

Feb 27, 08 10:41 AM CST
(Newser) - After months of blocking Democrat-sponsored anti-war bills, Senate Republicans changed course sharply yesterday, agreeing to advance a bill that cuts off funding for combat in Iraq after 120 days. GOP senators made the switch on grounds that a debate over conditions in Iraq allows them time to hail progress in... More »

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John McCain • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • Mitch McConnell • Senate GOP • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • George W. Bush

Rising Iraq Costs Refuel Debate

As price to wage war in Iraq climbs, US political opposition may re-emerge

Feb 4, 08 2:59 PM CST
(Newser) - The skyrocketing cost of the war in Iraq—where spending per month has doubled in the last 3 years—could re-energize anti-war sentiment in the next few months, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's likely to be a focus in debate over President Bush’s proposed $3 trillion budget, which... More »

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Iraq • GDP • federal budget • Iraq war • Iraq war spending • George W. Bush

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