House bill asks Iraq to match U.S. aid contributions

The proposal also would require the president to seek a deal in which Baghdad subsidizes military's fuel costs. Summary.

Last update: May 6, 2008 - 7:35 PM

A new war spending bill proposed by House Democrats would prohibit using U.S. aid to rebuild towns or equip security forces in Iraq unless Baghdad matches every dollar spent, legislators said Tuesday.

The $195 billion measure, to be voted on as early as Thursday, would fulfill President Bush's demands for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the next president can set his or her own policy next spring.

In addition to restricting U.S. aid, the bill would require the president to negotiate an agreement with Baghdad to subsidize the U.S. military's fuel costs. A recent Associated Press report revealed that the military is paying the market average of $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, while Baghdad subsidies put domestic consumption inside the country at about $1.36 a gallon.

Iraq is expected to reap some $70 billion in oil revenues because of record-high fuel prices.

CIVILIANS FLEE BAGHDAD FIGHTING

A rocket slammed into Baghdad's City Hall and another hit a downtown park Tuesday as more frightened civilians fled a Shiite militia stronghold where U.S.-led forces are locked in fierce street battles.

The U.S. push in the Sadr City district -- launched after an Iraqi government crackdown on armed Shiite groups began in late March -- is trying to weaken the militia grip in a key corner of Baghdad and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes on the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

VA OFFICIAL APOLOGIZES FOR CHOICE OF WORDS

The Department of Veterans Affairs' top mental health official, Dr. Ira Katz, said Tuesday he made a poor choice of words when he sent his colleagues an e-mail about suicide data that started out with "Shh!" He told the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the e-mail was in poor tone -- even though the body contained "appropriate, healthy dialogue" about the data. "I deeply regret the subject line," Katz said.

The e-mail was among those recently disclosed during a trial in San Francisco that suggested some at the VA might have been attempting to hide the number of attempted suicides by those under the agency's care.

The committee's chairman, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., accused Katz of being more concerned about how data was interpreted than the health of veterans. He said Katz should be fired. Filner also grilled Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake, who started in December. "I want to know if you're really going to take your role seriously," Filner said.

'TORTURE MEMO' AUTHOR TO TESTIFY

A former Justice Department lawyer who wrote a now-repudiated memo allowing harsh interrogations of military prisoners will testify voluntarily to Congress about those practices, say House Judiciary Committee officials.

A March 14, 2003, memo from John Yoo, now a law professor at University of California-Berkeley, outlines legal justification for military interrogators to use harsh tactics against Al-Qaida and Taliban detainees overseas -- so long as they did not specifically intend to torture their captives.

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