$60B War-Funding Bill Clears House

Even as WikiLeaks’ massive document dump is firing up opposition to U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan, on Tuesday Congress gave final approval to a bill that will issue $60 billion to continue funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Support was tepid, with many Democrats—including the bill’s main architect, David Obey of Wisconsin—voting against the measure on grounds that the administration’s war strategy isn’t working. “I cannot look my constituents in the eye and say that this operation will hurt our enemies more than us,” Obey said. The Senate has already passed the bill, meaning it’s ready for President Obama’s signature, but only after attempts to append unrelated stimulus spending to the bill were abandoned because of Republican opposition. The bill allocates $33 billion to fund the surge of 33,000 troops announced by Obama last year, as well as $13 billion to expand assistance to veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.