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Congress Passes Another War Funding Bill
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by Jay Kvale, W A M M
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On June 18 the U.S. Senate passed another war funding supplemental bill by a vote of 91-5 to keep the Overseas Contingency Operations (the former War on Terror) going in Afghanistan and Iraq. This brings official funding for the Middle East wars since 2001 to almost a trillion dollars!
The $106 billion bill, which included several add-ons to the original war funding request of $84 billion from President Barack Obama, was opposed by Republicans Jim DeMint (SC), Tom Coburn (OK), Mike Enzi (WY), Independent Bernie Sanders (VT), and only one Democrat, Russ Feingold (WI), a consistent opponent of our Middle East interventions.
Two days before, the vote in the House was considerably closer, winning passage 221-206. An amendment proposed by Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts that proposed the establishment of an exit strategy for Afghanistan was voted down 278-138. Republican Ron Paul of Texas and Democrat Dennis Kucinich of Ohio both issued strong statements in opposition to the war funding measure, claiming these protracted conflicts are not improving our national security and they are being paid for by money we don’t have.
While this time Republicans in the Senate mostly voted against the measure because they opposed the provision of a $108 billion credit line for European bankers to be funneled through the IMF, the Democrats voted overwhelmingly for it as part of an ambitious geopolitical and economic strategy being pushed by the Obama White House.
It appears Obama wants to achieve a decisive victory over the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) theater this summer. The Pakistani army has driven the Taliban out of the Swat Valley and into the rugged mountains of North and South Waziristan. In the first week of July, 4,000 U.S. Marines of the 21,000 force “surge” launched an offensive against Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province, site of half the world’s opium poppy supply, a major source of funding for the Taliban.
The “hammer” of the Pakistani army and the “anvil” of U.S. forces on the Afghan side of the border will try to crush the Taliban forces, capture their leader Mehsud, and maybe even turn up the elusive Osama bin Laden.
But military historians Andrew Bacevich and Marilyn Young have warned of the numerous unpredictable variables that could ruin this strategy — unpredictable reactions of millions of Pashtun tribesmen, difficulties of supply, mission creep, guerrilla raids, hostility from locals due to civilian casualties, and lack of clear objectives and an exit strategy. And then there are the refugees: The Pakistani army operation in the Swat valley has already displaced more than two million people from their homes.
New U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal stated that a principal objective of the new strategy is to do a better job of shielding Afghan civilians. This comes after air strikes in the western Afghan province of Farah in May killed more than 100 civilians and ongoing drone attacks have killed hundreds more in Pakistan this year. Recent surveys showed that 80 percent of the people oppose the Taliban and their vicious tactics, but the U.S. can hardly expect to win “hearts and minds” and stabilize and develop the area if civilian casualties aren’t eliminated.
While the health care reform battle and economic news will dominate the headlines in Washington this summer, the American public should also follow developments in the AfPak theater. Crucial events in Helmand and the far-off mountains of Waziristan could affect the lives of millions in coming months. |
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By the Numbers
Shifting Opinions
Support for Israel among American voters dropped 20 percent in the last nine months, according to a survey of 800 people conducted June 2 and 3 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the Israel Project.
• 49 percent call themselves supporters of Israel, down from 69 percent last September.
• The number who called themselves undecided rose during that same period.
• The number of Palestinian supporters remained steady at 7 percent.
• 44 percent believe the United States should support Israel, down from 69 percent a year ago.
• 5 percent believe the United States should support the Palestinians, with 32 percent undecided.
• 23 percent believe Israel should return all lands captured in 1967, with 57 percent saying some should be retained for security.
• 66 percent do not believe that Israeli support of a two-state solution—including establishing an independent Palestinian state and stopping the expansion of settlements—will bring lasting peace to the region; 22 percent say it will. 48 percent believe it would not end Palestinian terrorism; 39 percent said it would.
• 85 percent believe that Iran is a serious threat to Israel; 7 percent say it is not. These numbers remained steady over the past year.
(JTA, 6/15/09)
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© 2009 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete July-August 2009 Index - click here
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