US gets closer to action against IS
(MENAFN- Arab News) WASHINGTON: US congressional negotiators late Tuesday approved an emergency funding package to pay for military operations against the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria and a vote is expected in the coming days.
A plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels proposed by President Barack Obama is also expected to be extended. Lawmakers in September had approved it to last only until Dec. 11.
The armed services committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate late Tuesday released the final text of the defense authorization act for the 2015 budget year which runs from October 2014 to September 2015 after months of negotiations.
The House should adopt the bill by the end of the week said Democratic Sen. Carl Levin and his Republican counterpart James Inhofe. It then goes to the Senate.
The text includes $3.4 billion for the deployment of US forces as part of operation 'Absolute Determination' and $1.6 billion for a program to equip and train Iraqi Kurd forces for two years. The plan to finance moderate Syrian rebels is to come from existing Pentagon money.
In another area the law extends restrictions on the closing of the US prison in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The ban on transferring detainees from the prison to the United States in force since 2011 was renewed despite opposition from Obama.
Congress bars the Pentagon from transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. Republicans fear they might be freed by a judge and thus constitute a threat to national security.
A plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels proposed by President Barack Obama is also expected to be extended. Lawmakers in September had approved it to last only until Dec. 11.
The armed services committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate late Tuesday released the final text of the defense authorization act for the 2015 budget year which runs from October 2014 to September 2015 after months of negotiations.
The House should adopt the bill by the end of the week said Democratic Sen. Carl Levin and his Republican counterpart James Inhofe. It then goes to the Senate.
The text includes $3.4 billion for the deployment of US forces as part of operation 'Absolute Determination' and $1.6 billion for a program to equip and train Iraqi Kurd forces for two years. The plan to finance moderate Syrian rebels is to come from existing Pentagon money.
In another area the law extends restrictions on the closing of the US prison in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. The ban on transferring detainees from the prison to the United States in force since 2011 was renewed despite opposition from Obama.
Congress bars the Pentagon from transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. Republicans fear they might be freed by a judge and thus constitute a threat to national security.
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