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US Senate Approves 517 Billion Dollar Military Budget
Washington (AFP) Jun 23, 2006 The US Senate unanimously approved a 517.7 billion dollar defense bill for fiscal year 2007 that includes 50 billion dollars in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Passed on Thursday, the bill, which also includes a 2.2 percent pay raise for troops, will have to be reconciled with the House of Representatives' 427.6 billion dollar military budget passed Tuesday that also includes 50 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. The US government's fiscal year 2007 starts October 1. The Senate measure was preceded by an often passionate debate on two Democratic resolutions that attempted to set a deadline for the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq. The Republican-controlled Senate rejected one resolution, proposed by former presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, calling for combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by July 1 next year, by a 86-13 vote. The second bill, calling for troops to begin moving out of Iraq this year but without setting a hard timetable for final withdrawal, was dismissed by a 60-39 vote. Neither bill had been given much chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate, but lawmakers said they nevertheless reflect the deep public disaffection with the US military engagement in Iraq. Republicans, for their part, welcomed the chance to make the case, just a few months ahead of critical midterm elections, that they are the party with strong, coherent view on defense and security issues. With the Iraq war increasingly unpopular with the US public, Democrats hope to take control of the Senate or House of Representatives in the November elections. The Senate passed by voice vote an amendment by Democratic Senator Joseph Biden that would ban establishing permanent US military bases in Iraq and prevent the United States from controlling Iraq's crude oil resources. "The Iraqi people remain suspicious of our intentions and are growing increasingly impatient, putting our men and women in uniform in greater danger," Biden said in support of his resolution. "I do believe that we have a duty to proclaim -- and proclaim regularly and clearly -- that we have no intention of either maintaining permanent American military bases in Iraq or controlling its oil," he added. "Osama bin Laden and like-minded jihadists use the US occupation and their assertion that we aim to steal the region's oil as rallying cries in their regular calls to arms," said the Senator from Delaware. The Senate Thursday also unanimously adopted an amendment to the budget bill proposed by Republican Jeff Sessions calling for a 45 million dollar increase for the US missile defense system. A test of a sea-based missile shield was carried out successfully Thursday when a US warship shot down a target missile warhead over the Pacific, the US military said. The test came amid tension over North Korea's preparations to launch a long-range missile. A senior defense official told lawmakers Thursday that if the missile launch went ahead "we would seek to impose some cost on North Korea."
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EADS Strains Franco-German Ties
Berlin (UPI) Jun 23, 2006There may be a diplomatic rift in the pipeline between Germany and France after French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin hinted that he would like to expand his government's influence at European air and space company EADS. |
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