House prepares to approve $45 billion more for wars

WASHINGTON – The House is expected to give the Pentagon an additional $45 billion for wars next year even as public support for combat in Iraq wanes and lawmakers press for an exit strategy.

While President Bush has not yet asked for more war funds, lawmakers included money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in a spending bill the House debated Thursday. A vote had been expected late Thursday but was postponed until Monday because of other business.

With no end in sight in Iraq and Afghanistan, additional war costs are certain and House lawmakers are reluctant to wait for the president’s request.

The Senate also is considering adding billions for the wars in its version of the spending bill.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has given the president $350 billion for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan and fighting terrorism worldwide. That total includes $82 billion that lawmakers approved in May; much of this money was for Iraq.

In the month since, polls have shown that the public increasingly is dissatisfied with the direction of the Iraq war.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that only 41 percent of adults – a low-water mark – said they supported Bush’s handling of the war. A Gallup poll reported that six in 10 Americans want the United States to withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.

Responding to the growing criticism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Americans to “reach down” into themselves and “look for the kind of patience and generosity that we have exhibited in the past.”