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Explain Yourself: Senator Byrd Quizzes Pentagon on Billions More for Afghan Fight
Friday, March 1, 2002
truthout.com

“... the Defense Department will need a $12.6 billion supplemental just to cover the cost of the war for one year. That is an extraordinary price tag for the initial foray into a war that, as the President pointed out, has only begun, appears to have no boundaries, and has no definable point of victory."

WASHINGTON -- truthout.com
U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., continued his effort to garner answers from the Bush Administration about its plans for the war on terrorism, questioning Pentagon officials Wednesday about the length of time that American troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan.

"Instead of concentrating on completing our operations in Afghanistan, the Pentagon seems to be looking for opportunities to stay longer and extend itself further into the region. We seem to be developing more and more entrance strategies, not exit strategies," Byrd said at a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing.

"We went in Afghanistan to hunt down the terrorists, but we do not know where Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar are hiding. Now the President has committed our country to build an Afghan national army and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild that country. There is no end in sight to our mission in Afghanistan," Byrd stated.
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Dan