Hope al-jazeera carries this tonight:
U.S. Congress restricts Bush on Iraq spending
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
The U.S. Congress on Friday moved to block the Bush administration from building permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector, as it approved $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The restrictions included in a record $447 billion military funding bill were a slap at the administration, and Republicans have stripped them out of legislation in the past.
Democrats and many Republicans say the Iraqi insurgency has been fueled by perceptions the United States has ambitions for a permanent presence in the country.
The administration has downplayed prospects for permanent military bases in Iraq, but lawmakers have called on President George W. Bush to make a definitive statement that the United States has no such plans.
U.S. officials have predicted a lengthy U.S. military presence in Iraq.
The Senate unanimously passed the military spending bill, sending it to Bush for his signature. The House of Representatives passed it earlier in the week 394-22, as Congress rushed to leave town to campaign for November 7 elections that will determine control of Congress.
Bush had complained the bill's funding fell short of his request. But he issued a statement saying he would sign the legislation that "will provide our men and women in uniform with the necessary resources to protect our country and win the War on Terror."
With this bill, Congress has approved about $507 billion for the wars, with the bulk of that spent in Iraq where costs are averaging $8 billion per month, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Lawmakers called the $70 billion a "bridge fund" to last about halfway through the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1. About $23 billion of that is to replace and refurbish equipment worn out in the harsh environments of the two conflicts.
The military spending bill provides $377.6 billion for the Pentagon's core programs, $4.1 billion less than Bush wanted but $19 billion above current levels.
It funds a 2.2 percent military pay raise, and provides $557 million more for the Army Reserve and Army National Guard than Bush sought.
The House also passed a bill setting out policies for the Pentagon and the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs, but the measure was stalled in the Senate.
The $533 billion in programs outlined in the bill comes in appropriations bills for defense and energy.
With the military stretched by the Iraq war, the defense policy bill recommends raising the Army's forces by 30,000 to a force level of 512,400, and the Marines by 5,000 to a level of 180,000.
The bill blocks a move by the Pentagon to increase health care payments by service personnel.
Congress usually passes the defense policy bill before the spending bill. But the policy bill was stalled in a conference with the Senate over a bid by House Republicans to let military chaplains offer denominational prayers at nondenominational events. That eventually was struck from the bill.
