Gates, Clinton to testify on cost of Afghan surge

[laststeamtrain]

Source: Reuters

Gates, Clinton to testify on cost of Afghan surge

WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will face questioning next week from lawmakers who control government spending about the cost of the Obama administration's surge of troops into Afghanistan, congressional aides said on Thursday.

Gates and Clinton will appear on Tuesday before a joint hearing of two House of Representatives appropriations subcommittees, the aides told Reuters.

The hearing will be chaired by Representative John Murtha, a Democrat who said last week he thought Congress would have to approve a war funding bill of at least $40 billion to pay for President Barack Obama's troop buildup in Afghanistan. But such a vote is not likely until next year.

Murtha is chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee with authority over the Pentagon's budget. That panel will meet Tuesday together with the subcommittee that controls the State Department's budget, to question Gates and Clinton.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1014307520091210?type=marketsNews

[Fearless]

1. "Testify" or "Justify"

:eyes:

[Blue Owl]

2. Billions if not trillions of dollars...

...on something that might or might not work.

[laststeamtrain]

3. Analysis: Congress a reluctant banker for surge

Analysis: Congress a reluctant banker for surge

By ANNE GEARAN (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — When Congress finally got its chance to weigh in on the war in Afghanistan, lawmakers grudgingly accepted what they didn't like about the Obama administration's planned escalation and moved on.

Lawmakers had been complaining for three months that they were left out of the debate over the course of the faltering war. But when they got their crack this week at the generals and diplomats who manage President Barack Obama's new strategy, they didn't put up much of a fight.

Congress is expected to reluctantly bankroll the emergency surge of 30,000 forces for the unpopular war. Both parties have problems with different parts of Obama's plan, but their skepticism has yet to approach real opposition.

Democrats balked this week at increasing civilian aid in a country known for weak leadership and widespread corruption, but it was mostly for show. Republicans, who largely support the war expansion, disagreed with his plans to begin bringing forces back home in 18 months. But they too mostly held fire behind gritted teeth.

<snip>

Most likely, the federal government will simply increase its borrowing — as it has in recent years in paying for the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government has already shelled out a combined $1 trillion since 2001 for both conflicts.

During hearings that produced more grumbling than fireworks, some lawmakers warned that the Afghanistan war may not be winnable at any cost, and is being fought in the wrong country. Influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., wanted to know as much about American efforts to target al-Qaida in Pakistan as he did about the ground war in Afghanistan.

<more>

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jZPzaTFGGaYGs6VykDPgsgkOWPdQD9CGMMC83

[No Elephants]

4. Who cares? It's only Monopoly money, right?