By
Stephanie Miceli - July 28, 2010
On Sunday, Wikileaks disclosed nearly 92,000 leaked
Afghan war documents, including incidents of civilian killings and covert
operations. Though this raised questions about America's policy toward
Afghanistan, yesterday the House approved $37 billion in new spending for the war.
The House's 308-to-114 vote indicated support still remains for President Obama's war strategy. But it was preceded by a heated floor debate about whether the spending is unnecessary and detracts funding from the "larger fight against terrorism." Obama said the war funding is crucial to maintain the 30,000 additional troops sent to Afghanistan in December.
Opposition among Democrats, however, was stronger than it
was last year; yesterday, 102 Democrats voted against the funding request, in
comparison to 32 opposed Democrats last year. Among the 10-member, all-Democratic
Massachusetts Representatives, only Stephen Lynch of South Boston supported the
measure.
Worcester Democrat James P. McGovern spent much of
yesterday lobbying colleagues to vote against the funding. The leading antiwar
Representative said, "it is a mistake to give the administration another blank
check."
The 92,000
document archive suggests that even after the United States has spent almost
$300 billion on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban are reportedly at their
strongest since 2001.
In a display
of irony, Democrats expressed discontent over their party's president's policy,
while Republicans defended a president whom they've adamantly opposed on a host
of other issues.
Democrats
suffered losses last week when the Senate passed the same measure. The Senate eliminated
more than $20 billion in programs to protect teachers' jobs, many of which
Democrats wanted to be included.
Earlier this
month, McGovern cosponsored an amendment calling for a strategy to pull troops
from Afghanistan. The amendment was supported by all 10 Massachusetts
representatives, and 153 Democrats in total. However, it was defeated due to
Republican votes.
Yesterday's
vote was restricted to the extension of war funding, and House rules prevented
amendments to the measure. Thus, McGovern was unable to propose the amendment a
second time.
The $37 billion in new Afghan war spending comes part of a larger $59 billion bill that includes money for the war in Iraq, $2.8 billion for Haiti relief programs, $68 million for Gulf Coast oil relief efforts, and $13.4 billion for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
(Photo
Courtesy: AP Images)
