Pissing More Money Down the Iraqi Toilet

America, hemorraging debt, trying to rebuild the Gulf Coast, cuts yet ANOTHER check to the squabbling, bomb-throwing, ungrateful Iraqis.

Anybody else sick and tired of cutting checks?

Now here's the story:


Washington Post
Friday, October 7, 2005

The Senate today passed a defense spending bill that provides an extra $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and includes an amendment -- opposed by the White House -- that prohibits the mistreatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

Rushing to complete the bill before leaving for a 10-day recess, senators voted 97-0 to approve the $440 billion measure, which funds military operations for the 2006 fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

The Senate today passed a defense spending bill that provides an extra $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and includes an amendment -- opposed by the White House -- that prohibits the mistreatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

In a separate vote, the Senate approved a $31.9 billion budget for the Department of Homeland Security. The measure gives the department a 5 percent increase, with some of the new funding earmarked to help pay for additional Border Patrol agents.

The Senate defense bill must now be reconciled with a separate House version, and negotiators are expected to convene in the coming weeks to work out differences. The House bill, which was passed in July, provides more than $30 billion less in military spending than the Senate version.
Both bills include a 3.1 percent military pay increase and additional benefits for military personnel.

If the final bill includes the full $50 billion in extra war funding, it would push spending in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to more than $360 billion.