Washington-December 18 (Online): The US Senate approved a defence bill on Friday, which calls for establishing an independent commission to scrutinize the Afghan war and to probe options for combating terrorism in the region, including Pakistan.<\/p>\n
According to the media report, the proposed 16-member Afghanistan War Commission will produce a report within three years. The members would be selected in equal measure by Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Current and former members of Congress dating to 2001, as well as Cabinet-level and high-ranking defence officials involved in planning US policies on Afghanistan are excluded.<\/p>\n
A previous version of the bill also proposed probing Pakistan\u2019s role in the Afghan war, but that provision has now been dropped.
\nThe commission, however, can examine how regional countries influenced the Afghan war and the role they can play in peacefully ending the Afghan conflict.<\/p>\n
The summary of the bill states that the bipartisan panel will \u201cexamine\u201d the 20-year conflict and will prepare \u201cin-depth\u201d reports on the US ability to counter terrorism in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.<\/p>\n
The commission will also do the \u201caccountability\u201d of the military equipment left in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal and will devise plans for evacuating American citizens and \u201cAfghan allies\u201d still there.<\/p>\n
The defence authorization bill \u2014 passed with 88 to 11 votes in the Senate \u2014 approved a record $770 billion for America\u2019s defence. It earned the support of more than 80 per cent of the House last week. In both chambers, Republicans supporting the bill outnumbered Democrats, although Democrats control both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n
Underlining America\u2019s continued focus on China, the bill includes $7.1bn for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and a statement of congressional support for the defence of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own territory. It also includes a ban on the US Department of Defence procuring products made with forced labour in China\u2019s western Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n
The bill includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides support to Ukraine\u2019s armed forces, $4bn for the European Defence Initiative and $150m for Baltic security cooperation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington-December 18 (Online): The US Senate approved a defence bill on Friday, which calls for establishing an independent commission to scrutinize the Afghan war and to probe options for combating terrorism in the region, including Pakistan. According to the media report, the proposed 16-member Afghanistan […]<\/p>\n
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