House OKs $162 billion in Iraq war funding

WASHINGTON — A desire to help veterans, the unemployed and victims of Midwestern floods drove even the most tightfisted House conservatives to approve enormous additions to a long-delayed Iraq war-funding bill Thursday.

The bill to provide $162 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan well into next year, along with historic increases in college aid for returning troops and help for the unemployed and Midwestern flood victims, sailed through.

Among Washington state's delegation, the three Republicans voted yes along with the Democrats except Reps. Jim McDermott, Adam Smith and Jay Inslee. Lawmakers sent the bill to the Senate for a vote next week. The White House issued a statement supporting the legislation.

The bill would bring to more than $650 billion the amount provided by Congress for the war in Iraq since it started five years ago. It also would give Bush's successor several months to set Iraq policy after taking office in January — and spares lawmakers the need to cast more war-funding votes closer to Election Day.

The new GI Bill by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly-housing stipend, for people who serve in the military for at least three years. The measure also provides a quick $2.7 billion infusion of emergency-flood relief for the Midwest.

On war spending, the bill would prohibit U.S. money from being spent on Iraq-reconstruction efforts unless Iraq matches every dollar spent. But negotiators dropped a demand that Bush negotiate an agreement with Baghdad to subsidize the U.S. military's fuel costs so troops operating in Iraq aren't paying any more than Iraqi citizens are.

Crackdown meets

little resistance

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces met little resistance Thursday on the first day of the government's crackdown in the southern city of Amarah as they sought to disarm gunmen loyal to the militant Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi military and national police units easily spread through northern Amarah, a mostly Shiite oil and agricultural city that borders Iran and for decades has served as a smuggling hub.

Some Amarah residents warned there could be clashes if the operation moves into the area's famous marshes, which long have served as the perfect hide-out for fugitives, smugglers and political dissidents.

Many of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia are believed to have slipped into the marshes ahead of the Amarah operation.

In a move that angered Sadr's followers, Iraqi troops detained the vice governor of Maysan province, who also serves as the mayor of Amarah, the provincial capital.

The operation is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's fourth major push this year against fighters and banned weapons in Iraqi cities that have been largely lawless for years.

Earlier crackdowns targeted the southern port city of Basra, Baghdad's Sadr City district and Mosul in the north.

The Basra operation ignited nearly seven weeks of fighting between the Iraqi military and the Mahdi Army, most of it in Baghdad. Hundreds died in the violence, which ended formally with an agreement May 10 for Iraqi security forces to police the Sadr City district, the cleric's main bastion in Baghdad.

KBR accused of using

deadly chemical

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are accusing defense contractor KBR of knowingly exposing its employees and U.S. troops to a potentially deadly chemical in Iraq in its rush to get the country's oil infrastructure up and running.

Two former KBR employees are expected to testify today before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, that company officials told workers in late July 2003 that an orange dust-like substance covering the grounds of a water-pumping plant was a minor irritant and that exposure did not pose a health risk.

Ten days later, company officials acknowledged in a private meeting that the substance — sodium dichromate — had caused serious health problems with nearly 60 percent of workers exhibiting symptoms.

The Houston-based company, which split from Halliburton last year, denies any negligence.

KBR was tasked with restoring Iraq's oil infrastructure shortly after the March 2003 invasion by U.S. troops. The Qarmat Ali plant is needed to pump water into Iraq's southern oil reservoirs.

Seattle Times news services