Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
National Journal's CongressDailyPM
June 10, 2008 The nation's top military officer warned today that failure of Congress to pass the FY09 Defense Appropriations bill would create a very unsettling situation for the military and the nation at a time made difficult by the transition to a new administration.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his immediate concern was Congress' failure to approve the emergency supplemental bill to continue funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said soldiers in Afghanistan are out of the funds they use to support development and other projects geared to exploit "progress once they've established security. ... That's one of the impacts of not having a supplemental."
The Defense Department already has begun to reprogram money from the Air Force and Navy's personnel accounts "to essentially even out the pay timeline for all the services so we can get through, I believe it's the 15th of July pay day," although they might be able to go to July 31, Mullen said. "But clearly, we won't have money to operate or pay people after that," he said.
Efforts in the House and the Senate to approve legislation providing the $165 billion war funding have been stalled by attempts to add billions of dollars in domestic programs and for a new veterans' education-assistance program. Because of the partisan gridlock in both chambers and a shortened election-year session, there is growing concern that Congress will not be able to pass any of the FY09 appropriations bills, meaning that the government would be funded by a continuing resolution. "A continuing resolution is very restrictive in the things we can do," Mullen noted. Any new initiative might not receive funding, he said.
The chairman wondered what would happen to the $70 billion in bridge funds Congress has planned to provide to continue funding the war until enactment of a new supplemental for FY09. He warned of "an extraordinary challenge for us as a country, because we're going to have a new administration." Mullen added: "And that new administration will have challenges getting up, getting running and figuring out what it wants to do. ... So I would really hope that we could get an authorization and appropriations for '09. It would make it, for the DOD and the military in executing our missions, a whole lot easier."
Recently returned from his third trip to Pakistan, Mullen expressed concern about the new government's attempt to negotiate agreements with the militants in the loosely controlled Federally Administrated Tribal Areas in northwest Pakistan. Al-Qaida and other insurgents have been using the tribal areas as a base for continued operations against coalition and Afghan forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Mullen said he believes if the United States gets hit with another major terrorist attack "I think the planning will originate there." He said the new government recognized the threat of an insurgent safe haven in the tribal areas and is struggling to find a solution, but it is "an extremely complex situation."
On Iraq, Mullen said he does not believe that a timeline for troop withdrawal, as proposed by Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is "the way to go." Mullen supports the "conditions-based approach" favored by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. And, he noted that the Iraqi government is beginning to show more unity. "I'm very comfortable with the track we're on now, with the conditions-based approach and the fact that we're making progress," he said.
by Otto Kreisher
June 10, 2008 The nation's top military officer warned today that failure of Congress to pass the FY09 Defense Appropriations bill would create a very unsettling situation for the military and the nation at a time made difficult by the transition to a new administration.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his immediate concern was Congress' failure to approve the emergency supplemental bill to continue funding for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said soldiers in Afghanistan are out of the funds they use to support development and other projects geared to exploit "progress once they've established security. ... That's one of the impacts of not having a supplemental."
The Defense Department already has begun to reprogram money from the Air Force and Navy's personnel accounts "to essentially even out the pay timeline for all the services so we can get through, I believe it's the 15th of July pay day," although they might be able to go to July 31, Mullen said. "But clearly, we won't have money to operate or pay people after that," he said.
Efforts in the House and the Senate to approve legislation providing the $165 billion war funding have been stalled by attempts to add billions of dollars in domestic programs and for a new veterans' education-assistance program. Because of the partisan gridlock in both chambers and a shortened election-year session, there is growing concern that Congress will not be able to pass any of the FY09 appropriations bills, meaning that the government would be funded by a continuing resolution. "A continuing resolution is very restrictive in the things we can do," Mullen noted. Any new initiative might not receive funding, he said.
The chairman wondered what would happen to the $70 billion in bridge funds Congress has planned to provide to continue funding the war until enactment of a new supplemental for FY09. He warned of "an extraordinary challenge for us as a country, because we're going to have a new administration." Mullen added: "And that new administration will have challenges getting up, getting running and figuring out what it wants to do. ... So I would really hope that we could get an authorization and appropriations for '09. It would make it, for the DOD and the military in executing our missions, a whole lot easier."
Recently returned from his third trip to Pakistan, Mullen expressed concern about the new government's attempt to negotiate agreements with the militants in the loosely controlled Federally Administrated Tribal Areas in northwest Pakistan. Al-Qaida and other insurgents have been using the tribal areas as a base for continued operations against coalition and Afghan forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Mullen said he believes if the United States gets hit with another major terrorist attack "I think the planning will originate there." He said the new government recognized the threat of an insurgent safe haven in the tribal areas and is struggling to find a solution, but it is "an extremely complex situation."
On Iraq, Mullen said he does not believe that a timeline for troop withdrawal, as proposed by Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is "the way to go." Mullen supports the "conditions-based approach" favored by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. And, he noted that the Iraqi government is beginning to show more unity. "I'm very comfortable with the track we're on now, with the conditions-based approach and the fact that we're making progress," he said.
by Otto Kreisher