(LM: From BBC News. Link is below.)Pentagon seeks $190bn war funds
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress for nearly $190bn to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He told a Senate committee the money would help pay for armoured vehicles to protect US troops from roadside bombs. Democrats say they will try to use the spending request as leverage in their attempts to withdraw troops from Iraq.
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Testifying to the Senate Appropriations Committee as he made the spending request, Mr Gates said he was aware of the deep concerns felt by some about the US war in Iraq.
"I know that Iraq and other difficult choices America faces in the war on terror will continue to be a source of friction within the Congress, between the Congress and the president and in the wider public debate," he said in prepared remarks.
But, he continued, he would like also to mention "the honour, courage and great sense of duty we have witnessed in our troops since 11 September".
(LM: There's your money shot--justify the expenditure with a gratuitous and long-ago disproven connection between Iraq and 9/11! Always works. Saw that one coming, didn't you?)<snip>
(link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7015087.stm)