Iraq war spending

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Feds Renew Blackwater Deal

 Feds Renew
 Blackwater Deal 

Feds Renew Blackwater Deal

FBI still probing incident that left 17 Iraqis dead

(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...

Cops Arrest 160 at Iraq Protests
 Cops Arrest 160 at Iraq Protests 

Cops Arrest 160 at Iraq Protests

Demonstrations staged across the US on war's anniversary

(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...

Americans Blame War for Economic Woes: Poll

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

(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...

Iraq's Toll Spirals Into Trillions
Iraq's Toll Spirals Into Trillions

Iraq's Toll Spirals Into Trillions

Iraq may cost up to $12.5B each month

(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...

Oil-Rich Iraq Should Fund Reconstruction, Say Senators

US taxpayers are footing bill instead

(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 US Troops Outfitting Themselves for Combat

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

(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...

GOP Senators Try to Outflank Dems on Iraq Funding Bill

See chance to show war is succeeding

(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...

Rising Iraq Costs Refuel Debate
Rising Iraq Costs Refuel Debate

Rising Iraq Costs Refuel Debate

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

(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...

Bush Vetoes Defense Bill, Delays Troops' Pay Raise

Iraq lawsuit provision sidetracks measure

(Newser) - President Bush vetoed a wide-ranging defense-spending measure today after Iraqi politicians objected to a proviso buried in the bill enabling Iraqis to sue their government in US court over Saddam Hussein-era injuries. The bill does not fund the war in Iraq, the Chicago Tribune reports, but does contain a pay...

Congress Approves War Funds
Congress Approves War Funds

Congress Approves War Funds

House passes budget that includes money for Iraq

(Newser) - The House today approved a $556 billion spending bill that grants President Bush his wish for $70 billion in additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reuters reports. The measure, which also funds most of the federal government through next September, marks another setback for Democrats looking to...

Bush Hails 'Noble' Iraq War
 Bush Hails 'Noble' Iraq War

Bush Hails 'Noble' Iraq War

President marks Veterans Day in Texas

(Newser) - President Bush marked the fifth Veterans Day since the beginning of the war in Iraq at an emotional ceremony at an American Legion Post in Texas where four fallen servicemen were honored. Bush was expected to use the opportunity to scold Congress for not sending him a veterans spending bill,...

National Protests Target Iraq War
National Protests Target Iraq War

National Protests Target Iraq War

'National day of action' coordinates protests in cities across America

(Newser) - On the fifth anniversary of Congress' vote to authorize invading Iraq, demonstrators thronged the streets in a dozen US cities yesterday, calling on Congress to cut off war funding and focus on domestic issues. The "national day of action" brought protesters out nationwide, including Boston, LA, New York and...

Poll: 69% Want War Funding Cut
Poll: 69%
Want War Funding Cut

Poll: 69% Want War Funding Cut

Approval ratings for Bush and Congress hit record lows

(Newser) - The majority of Americans want to reign in spending on Iraq and Afghanistan, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows, with 69% opposing the full funding of President Bush's $190 billion request. Bush scores a 33% approval rating, matching his career low, with approval for Congress at 29%, a 14-point...

GOP Moderates in Agony Over Key Votes

Stick with the president or try to get re-elected?

(Newser) - Moderates in the GOP are dreading upcoming votes that will force them to choose between loyalty to their president and their reelection prospects, the Washington Post reports. Upcoming congressional showdowns on the Iraq war, children’s health care, and spending will be particularly perilous to those facing voters next fall....

House Breaks Up Iraq War Funding Bill

Unusual move allows vote against war, for domestic spending

(Newser) - House Democratic leaders are splitting the new Iraq funding bill into two distinct amendments, the Politco reports. One will be the $103 billion Bush requested for the war in Iraq, which will speak of benchmarks but won't demand a withdrawal date, the other a $17 billion domestic spending package.

Dems Ditch Iraq Timeline Demand
Dems Ditch
Iraq Timeline Demand

Dems Ditch Iraq Timeline Demand

New war spending bill won't include much-ballyhooed provision

(Newser) - Democratic leaders have quietly abandoned a cornerstone of their Iraq war platform: a timeline for withdrawal. Racing to pass a spending bill before the Memorial Day recess, they don't have the votes to pass a timeline, the LA Times reports, and they risk fallout for failing to fund troops in...

Senate Votes Down Iraq Withdrawal
Senate Votes Down Iraq Withdrawal

Senate Votes Down Iraq Withdrawal

Proposal would have ended funding by March

(Newser) - The Senate yesterday shot down a plan to cut all funding for the war in Iraq by next March. Russ Feingold's proposal, largely a test of anti-war support, was defeated in a 67-29 procedural vote, as Congress moves towards compromise with the White House on a spending measure.

Bush Caves On Iraq Benchmarks
Bush Caves
On Iraq Benchmarks

Bush Caves On Iraq Benchmarks

Democrats renew insistence on stick to accompany carrot

(Newser) - In an abrupt about-face, President Bush said today he will negotiate with Congress about including benchmarks for the Iraqi government in war-spending legislation. With discontent mounting on both sides of the aisle, he emerged from a Pentagon briefing on Iraq and Afghanistan and said, "It makes sense to have...

The Capitol Arms For The War Over the War

(Newser) - With Congress and the president now officially at war over Iraq, all parties scrambled yesterday to gear up for the coming firefight. The President promised to veto the spending bill with troop withdrawal deadlines attached, seeming to relish the fight ahead. Tthe newly aggressive and unified Democrats, notes the New ...

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