The Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled a nearly $650 billion defence package that would fully back President Barack Obama’s war funding requests but attach new conditions demanding a better explanation of counter-insurgency aid promised to Pakistan. According to the Politic, the core Pentagon spending would grow by $17 billion to $530 billion and an estimated $119 billion is provided for military operations overseas, chiefly in the Afghanistan and Pakistan theatre.
Included is $1.1 billion in continued counter-insurgency assistance for the Islamabad government, but the House Appropriations Committee would add new conditions forcing a fuller airing of concerns regarding that partnership in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan last month. Legislative language withholds three-quarters of the funds until the defence and state departments come up with a report to Congress on how the money is being used and what metrics are being used to measure progress by Pakistan in rooting out terrorist and Taliban elements inside its borders.
