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 ...
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 national security reporter for Foreign Policy, covering defense and military issues in Washington. He is also vice president of the Pentagon Press Association. Baron previously was a national security staff writer for National Journal, covering the "business of war." Prior to that, Baron worked in the resident daily Pentagon press corps as a reporter/photographer for Stars and Stripes. For three years with Stripes, Baron covered the building and traveled overseas extensively with the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, covering official visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, China, Japan and South Korea, in more than a dozen countries. From 2004 to 2009, Baron was the Boston Globe Washington bureau's investigative projects reporter, covering defense, international affairs, lobbying and other issues. Before that, he muckraked at the Center for Public Integrity. Baron has reported on assignment from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the South Pacific. He was won two Polk Awards, among other honors. He has a B.A. in international studies from the University of Richmond and M.A. in media and public affairs from George Washington University. Originally from Orlando, Fla., Baron has lived in the Washington area since 1998 and currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, three sons, and the family dog, The Edge. Twitter: @FPBaron
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