Obama seeks USD 83.4 bn for fight against Qaeda, Taliban

Washington: President Barack Obama has pitched for USD 83.4 billion for military operations to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” al-Qaeda and Taliban threatening the US from their safe havens along the Pak-Afghan border, asking lawmakers to urgently approve his “last” supplemental funds to fight terrorism. “We face a security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that demands urgent attention. The Taliban is resurgent and Al-Qaeda threatens America from its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border,” Obama wrote in a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, seeking early approval for his war supplemental request of USD 83.4 billion. “Nearly 95 per cent of these funds will be used to support our men and women in uniform as they help the people of Iraq to take responsibility for their own future — and work to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Obama said in his letter yesterday. He assured the Congress that his funding request will ensure that the full force of the US — military, intelligence, diplomatic, and economic power — is engaged in an overall effort to defeat al-Qaeda and uproot the safe haven from which it plans and trains for attacks on the US and its allies.