House Approves $59 Billion for Afghan War

 WSJ

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved $59 billion to fund the Afghan war and other emergency spending, sending the bill to President Barack Obama's desk after brushing aside revelations contained in a cache of leaked military documents. The war's unusual politics were reflected in the 308-114 vote. While 102 Democrats defected, objecting to a war prosecuted by a president of their own party, 160 Republicans supported the measure despite their frequent opposition to Mr. Obama's policies.

The debate was colored by Sunday's release of 92,000 documents by the group WikiLeaks, but it didn't appear to affect the outcome. The leaked military incident reports were raised only occasionally by anti-war lawmakers. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had been souring on the White House's Afghan policy for months. Some lawmakers said the documents could accelerate that erosion of support in the longer term.

In a measure of the debate's topsy-turvy nature, Rep. David Obey (D., Wisc.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Democrats' point man on the bill, told his colleagues he could not support it.

"The Afghan government has not demonstrated the focused determination, reliability and judgment necessary to bring this effort to a rational and successful conclusion," Mr. Obey said. "I cannot look my constituents in the eye and say that this operation will hurt our enemies more than us."

Top Republicans supported the bill and blamed Democrats for not passing it sooner. House Democrats initially added $20 billion in domestic spending to the legislation, but the Senate stripped it out, a process that took several weeks.

"The delay in passing this legislation was caused by one thing and only one thing—the House Democratic majority's continuing and unwavering appetite for spending," said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R., Calif.), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee.

While some Democrats stressed the urgent need to fund the troops, others made impassioned anti-war speeches, saying the country should be addressing pressing needs at home rather than a futile conflict thousands of miles away.

"Congress cannot continue to write a blank check for a war in Afghanistan that has ultimately made our county less safe," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.

Later in the day, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio), forging an alliance with Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas), offered a resolution ordering Mr. Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Pakistan, which failed by a 38-372 margin.

The two congressmen argued that secretive military operations in Pakistan violate the War Powers Act, since Congress hasn't authorized them. "We don't make declarations of war any more," Mr. Paul told his colleagues. "We slip into war."

Rep. Howard Berman (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said there are no U.S. forces in Pakistan engaged in hostilities—there are 120 U.S. trainers aiding the Pakistani military on counterinsurgency techniques—and warned the resolution would inflame sentiments in the region.

Mr. Obama, in his first comments on the leaked documents, on Tuesday downplayed the significance of the reports, which outlined the struggles of soldiers on the ground and raise questions about Pakistan's trustworthiness as an ally. "These documents don't reveal any issues that haven't already informed our public debate on Afghanistan," Mr. Obama said.

Marine Gen. James Mattis, in his confirmation hearing to become head of Central Command, said he supported the president's strategy to begin drawing down troops in July. He said the pace of the transfer to the Afghan military would be based on conditions on the ground, rather than being "a handoff of a hot potato."

Under questioning from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Gen. Mattis said the WikiLeaks release was "appallingly irresponsible" but dismissed the documents' significance. "I've seen no big revelations," he said.

The Pentagon had been pressuring Congress to pass the war spending measure before its August recess, which begins next week. Defense Department officials said money for the war would begin running out Aug. 7.

In addition to the war funding, the bill approved Tuesday included money for post-earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti, counter-narcotics operations in Mexico and a response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.