Word: afghanistan
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...Obama's fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill appear to have other ideas, however, and are talking of levying a war tax to highlight their opposition to reinforcing the 68,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. "If this war is important enough to expand and fight, then it ought to be important enough to pay for," Representative David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, tells TIME. "If we don't, we run the risk of devouring every dollar that would otherwise be used to rebuild our own economy." He argues that the domestic initiatives of both Harry...
...ninth year, and public support is waning. But Obama on Tuesday repeated his belief that neither al-Qaeda nor its allies can be permitted to flourish in Afghanistan. "We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks," he said. "It is my intention to finish the job." (See pictures of Osama Bin Laden...
There was a new face at the table when President Barack Obama conducted his ninth war council on Afghanistan shortly before Thanksgiving: Peter Orszag, head of the Office of Management and Budget. And the appearance of the Administration's chief bookkeeper at what is likely to be the final meeting of a war cabinet assembled to make the key decisions on the future of the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan sends a signal of growing concern over the cost of sending some 30,000 more troops into the fight...
...that it has been proposed demonstrates the depth of opposition among some Democrats to continuing the war. And the pressure on Obama from Capitol Hill is likely to grow if sending reinforcements doesn't yield quick progress on the ground. (See pictures of the U.S. Marines' new offensive in Afghanistan...
...Just how much putting extra troops in Afghanistan will cost is in dispute. Orszag pegs it at $1 million per soldier per year ($30 billion annually for 30,000 more troops), which is twice as much as the Pentagon's figure. The number varies depending on how many new weapons and other materiel are cranked into the calculation. But a new study underscores the extra costs of fighting in a landlocked country where the Taliban has shut down much of the meager road network. For example, every U.S. soldier in Afghanistan requires 22 gallons of fuel...