US Senate backs US$8bn war spending bill

WASHINGTON - The US Senate has passed an US$81 billion ($112.56 billion) bill that the Bush administration said it urgently needs to continue funding American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The measure passed the Senate 99-0. Senators will next meet with House counterparts to work out a compromise bill that can be sent promptly to President Bush for enactment.

The emergency funding "will continue to support the additional funding that's needed for this fiscal year for our troops in the field, for those who are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican.

Before passing the bill, the Senate voted to give the military an additional US$213 million to buy more armor-protected "Humvee" military vehicles through the end of this year.

Late last year, the Pentagon scurried to procure more Humvees after Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld heard soldier complaints that troops in Iraq had to forage for scrap metal and other materials to protect their vehicles against insurgent attacks.

"The American people are appalled that our troops have had to fend for themselves by strapping plywood and scrap metal onto their vehicles. Our troops call them cardboard coffins," said Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

But Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens said more than enough Humvees already had been produced for American soldiers fighting in Iraq. "This is not about taking care of troops," he said, adding that only defence contractor interests were being served with the additional money.

The House-passed version of the bill contains US$185 billion in added funding for Humvees.

The "emergency" spending bill also provides additional US aid for last December's Indian Ocean tsunami victims and for improving patrols of American borders.

- REUTERS