Pentagon extends Iraq mission funding

One day into the new fiscal year, the Pentagon on Tuesday scrambled to shift funds to keep the lights on for the mission in Iraq after Congress failed to extend those monies.   Adm. James "Sandy" Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shifted $1.7 million to fund 90 days worth of counterterrorism ...

By , a former staff writer at Foreign Policy.
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/GettyImages
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/GettyImages
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/GettyImages

One day into the new fiscal year, the Pentagon on Tuesday scrambled to shift funds to keep the lights on for the mission in Iraq after Congress failed to extend those monies.
 
Adm. James "Sandy" Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shifted $1.7 million to fund 90 days worth of counterterrorism operations and Iraqi security forces training, using the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund.
 
Pentagon press secretary George Little made the shift known on Tuesday, but effective as of Monday, in response to a reporter's question. "This is a temporary bridge," Little said, until Congress passes an extension.
 
On Monday, Foreign Policy's The Cable reported that Congress in its continuing resolution to fund the federal government beyond fiscal 2012 failed to reauthorize the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq (OSC-I). Read more about that here.
 
"The important thing is that we found the money," Little said.
 

One day into the new fiscal year, the Pentagon on Tuesday scrambled to shift funds to keep the lights on for the mission in Iraq after Congress failed to extend those monies.
 
Adm. James "Sandy" Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shifted $1.7 million to fund 90 days worth of counterterrorism operations and Iraqi security forces training, using the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund.
 
Pentagon press secretary George Little made the shift known on Tuesday, but effective as of Monday, in response to a reporter’s question. "This is a temporary bridge," Little said, until Congress passes an extension.
 
On Monday, Foreign Policy’s The Cable reported that Congress in its continuing resolution to fund the federal government beyond fiscal 2012 failed to reauthorize the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq (OSC-I). Read more about that here.
 
"The important thing is that we found the money," Little said.
 

Kevin Baron is a former staff writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @FPBaron

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