US President Barack Obama on Monday proposed $1.2 billion in funding next year to help train and equip Pakistani security forces to fight Taliban militants.Created by the US Congress last year, the Pakistan Counter-insurgency Capability Fund set aside some $700 million in 2009 to train and equip the Pakistan Army and other security forces.The war spending proposed by Obama is only slightly less than in each of the last two years of the administration of President George Bush and carries considerable political perilfor the Democratic president, who took office in 2009.
Obama announced in December he was adding 30,000 more US troops to the Afghan war effort to join the 68,000 already fighting the Taliban. To pay for this surge, Obama on Monday asked for an additional $33 billion in the fiscal 2010, on top of about $130 billion that the Congress has already approved for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars through Sept 30, 2010.
Obama announced in December he was adding 30,000 more US troops to the Afghan war effort to join the 68,000 already fighting the Taliban. To pay for this surge, Obama on Monday asked for an additional $33 billion in the fiscal 2010, on top of about $130 billion that the Congress has already approved for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars through Sept 30, 2010.
