Vol. 73/No. 16      April 27, 2009

In an interview with the London Times, Odierno said that U.S. troop numbers in Mosul and Baqubah, and other parts of Diyala province in the north of the country, could rise rather than fall over the next year. The general pointed to the activities of al-Qaeda and conflicts between Arabs and Kurds as unresolved difficulties facing U.S. troops there.

At the end of December, Washington and Baghdad signed an agreement extending deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq until the end of 2011. Obama promised to pull all combat troops out of Iraqi cities by June 30 and to withdraw all combat troops by August 2010—which would still leave up to 50,000 U.S. troops in the country.

Obama made an unannounced visit to Iraq April 7, reaffirming his withdrawal timetable. He told a gathering of troops stationed in Baghdad that the next 18 months is “a critical period” for U.S. forces to “transition to the Iraqis. They need to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty.” Obama spent five hours in Baghdad, remaining on the U.S. military base next to the airport throughout his visit.

The following day, tens of thousands of Iraqis, mainly supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, marched through Baghdad demanding withdrawal of U.S. troops, marking the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the country, the London Times reported.

Obama’s request for supplemental war funds is in addition to $65.9 billion in “emergency” funds Congress had already approved this year. This will bring Washington’s spending on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to more than $900 billion over the past seven-and-a-half years.

Up until now both wars have been financed through 17 emergency supplemental requests passed under the George W. Bush administration. Obama said this would be the only time his administration asks for supplemental funds for the wars beyond the monies allocated in the annual budget. His administration is including $130 billion for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the annual budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning October 1, reported Bloomberg News.

“The reality is the alternative to the supplemental is a sudden and precipitous withdrawal” of U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, stated Defense Secretary Robert Gates in an appeal for ongoing bipartisan support. “And I don’t know anybody who thinks that’s a good idea.”

While most of the funds in the supplemental war bill are for the expanding war in Afghanistan and the ongoing military operations and projected drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, $800 million would go toward expanding UN “peacekeeping” troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo and for similar imperialist-backed UN operations in Chad and the Central African Republic. Some $350 million is destined for “security” and “anti-drug” operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. Another $1.6 billion goes toward a “surge” of diplomatic and U.S. “civilian” personnel in Afghanistan.
 
 
Related articles:
Not 1 penny, not 1 person for U.S. war  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home