by Anson Bentley

Created on: June 16, 2008

The emergency supplemental legislation should continue to be a resource of funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, firstly, because of the simple fact that obtaining necessary funding through the supplemental avenue is a much quicker and efficient process. This is important because without the immediate additional funding, the DoD would be under-resourced and would have to divert funds from other important missions throughout the world to finance the two wars and would undermine global US security interests in areas such as Europe, South Korea and Taiwan. Furthermore, the emergency supplemental legislation is passed by congressional edict, and therefore it is legal.

In addition, the traditional pre-nineties defence budget has historically averaged approximately 7% of GDP over a forty-year period vs. the current approximate 3-4%. By way of comparison, the percentage of GDP spent on defence during the Korean War was 14% and during Vietnam was 9%, hence, the current budget is historically less than percentages of the GDP in the past anyway, and it should be taken into consideration when approving additional funding, that the USA and partners are in a GLOBAL War on Terrorism, not just a regional war as the two previously mentioned. Also, without the emergency supplemental funding, non-combat specific military programs would suffer as well, including the following (from 2007 Supplemental Figures):

-$8.65 billion for military personnel
-$49.20 billion for operation and maintenance
-$10.45 billion for procurement
-$575.70 million for the Defence Health Program

The three main reasons I argue in favour of Emergency Supplemental Legislation is firstly, because it is ran through Congress as mentioned above, therefore it is legal. Secondly, that without the funding, US troops could go without needed services, and thirdly, the very nature of the Emergency Funding process is a much quicker procedure and gets the funding in the hands of the DoD much quicker than the traditional DoD Congressional budget process.

In addition from an Iraq specific perspective, as stated by Congressman Todd Platts at www.house.gov,

"With the continued support and assistance of the United States and our allies, the people of Iraq are on the path to transforming their country into a peaceful, thriving democratic nation. The funds for civilian infrastructure projects contained in this legislation will help ensure that the years of despair, fear, and torture under Saddam Hussein's regime are successfully replaced with freedom, justice, and hope for a bright and promising future for all Iraqi citizens.... as Generals Sanchez and Odierno emphasized, these supplemental funds will help to ensure that our courageous men and women in uniform have the resources they need to fulfil their challenging mission in Iraq and in the broader War on Terrorism."

We cannot just simply walk away from Iraq and Afghanistan, leave their new governments without assistance and the necessary time to build a foundation for their future and expect them to defend their countries alone from inside and out because of a lack of needed resources. Their success is directly proportional to advancing the USA's national Interest and the funding helps make this win/win situation have a much better chance of success.

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