http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060615/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqafghanistan_060615151648

Also, see pdf of this same article here... (243 KB)

June 15, 2006

US Congress votes 66 billion dollars for military in Iraq, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Congress has approved a new 66-billion-dollar budget for the US military for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The money was allocated Thursday in a 94.5-billion-dollar budget bill which was passed in the Senate with 98 votes for and one against.

It gives 65.8 billion dollars to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, four billion dollars for US allies in the "war on terror", 2.7 billion dollars for Iraq and 66 million dollars to "promote democracy" in Iran.

The United States has now spent or allocated 438 billion dollars to the "war on terror" unleashed after the September 11, 2001 attacks. More than 70 percent has been spent in Iraq.

The vote went ahead as the US Defence Department announced that the military death toll in Iraq had hit 2,500. The House of Representatives started a major debate on Thursday on Iraq and the "war on terror".

The budget bill also included 19.8 billion dollars to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, 1.9 billion dollars for border security and 2.3 billion dollars to prepare for any avian flu pandemic.

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