- NEW YORK -- President
Bush was yesterday handed £55 billion to rebuild Iraq - but less
than a quarter will go on helping the war-torn country.
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- Instead, more than £40 billion will be spent on
paying, arming and supplying the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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- The meagre leftovers will be spent rebuilding Iraq's
economy and setting up a government. This includes money for power and
water supplies and training a police force. Only £750 million has
been set aside to rebuild Afghanistan.
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- Congress was forced to support the package after the
White House turned it into a test of support for the troops and the war
on terrorism. Senator Robert Byrd said: "The president owes the American
people an exit strategy for Iraq."
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- Also included in the bill is money for victims of hurricanes
and fires in the US (£310 million), the expansion of Arabic-language
broadcasts into Iraq, securing US diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan and
providing rewards for the capture of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
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- In addition, £2.95 million will go on US troops
elsewhere and £155 million on peacekeeping in Liberia.
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