Obama Seeks Extra Funds for Wars

news.bbc.co.uk — U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress for an extra $83.4 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. In his official letter to the House, he said the request was his "last planned war supplemental [payment]". The supplementary money is needed to pay for the new Afghan strategy and the reduction of combat troops in Iraq. The sum breaks down into $75.8 billion for the Pentagon and more than $7 billion in foreign aid, including $1.8 billion for Pakistan. It would push the war money approved for 2009 to about $150 billion. The totals were $171 billion for 2007 and $188 billion for 2008, when George W Bush was in the White House.

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