Pray for safety, success, and mental and emotional strength for U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a $58 billion measure to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite growing opposition to the wars among congressional Democrats. The House passed the Senate version of the war funding bill after the Senate rejected tens of billions of dollars in domestic initiatives that the House had included in its original version.
The measure received broad Republican support, with only 12 Republicans voting against it, but 102 Democrats opposed the bill, more than twice the number who voted against a similar measure last year. “What has changed in my mind is I am so discouraged at the chances of our commitment in Afghanistan succeeding that I think it’s time to say, no more,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA).
The vote seemed to be unaffected by the Sunday release of 91,000 secret documents about the Afghanistan war. The documents, however, gave a voice to opponents of the war who say they paint a picture of a war that is rapidly deteriorating. President Obama argued that the documents did not introduce any new information to the debate, and that they reinforce his decision to make a change in strategy, sending 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan. The bill passed Tuesday will partially go to pay for those new troops.




