Congress approves $87.5bn in aid for Iraq and Afghanistan

The US House of Representatives today gave strong endorsement to a 87.5 billion dollars (€75.3bn) package to sustain US military forces and rebuild the shattered nations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The package includes nearly 65 billion dollars (€56bn) for military personnel and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an additional 18.6 billion dollars (€16bn) for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

The Senate is expected to follow suit quickly, sending President George W Bush a package that closely mirrors his original request.

In a victory for the White House, lawmakers from both chambers worked out the final details of the package on Wednesday night, eliminating a Senate provision that would have required that half of the money for Iraqi reconstruction and security forces be given as loans instead of grants.

Democrats, while saying US troops must be given full financial backing, used the debate to criticise the scope of the package and the lack of congressional controls over how it will be spent.

“We are going to be held accountable for this vote for a long time,” said Congressman David Obey, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. Constituents “are going to be asking us about the loans, they are going to be asking us whether or not there is adequate protection for taxpayer money”.

The White House had threatened to veto the bill if loans were included. It said Iraq was already too deeply in debt and didn’t have a government authorised to take on new loans. It also said that any loans secured by Iraq’s oil revenues would only support the arguments of war critics who said the US was after Iraq’s oil.

Supporters of the loans said US taxpayers are already paying plenty for Iraq and Iraqis should have a bigger stake in their country’s reconstruction. The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, said yesterday that dropping the loans shows a “tin ear to what the American people are saying”.