RonPaulFanInGA
07-07-2011, 05:18 PM
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-house-votes-bar-military-aid-libyan-rebels-185452905.html
The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to forbid the Pentagon from providing military equipment, training, advice or support to Libya's rebels.
By a 225-201 margin, lawmakers debating an annual Pentagon spending bill adopted an amendment restricting Washington's ability to help fighters looking to overthrow longtime Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.
The House was expected to vote Friday on approving the underlying bill, but the provision on Libya's rebels could face stiff opposition in Senate, which must approve the legislation to send it to Obama to sign into law.
Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma introduced the measure at a time when many US lawmakers have expressed anger at President Barack Obama's handling of the conflict, which is unpopular with the US public.
It forbids the Pentagon from providing "military equipment, military training or advice, or other support for military activities, to any group or individual, not part of a country's armed forces, for the purpose of assisting that group or individual in carrying out military activities in or against Libya."
"Congress has allowed the president to overreach in Libya," Cole said in a statement after the vote, denouncing the US role in NATO-led, UN-mandated operations in Libya as an "ill-advised adventure."
But Republican Senator John McCain, a strong backer of the rebels, denounced the vote as "deeply disturbing" and warned it "sends exactly the wrong message to Kadhafi and those fighting for freedom and democracy in Libya -- especially since Kadhafi is clearly crumbling."
The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to forbid the Pentagon from providing military equipment, training, advice or support to Libya's rebels.
By a 225-201 margin, lawmakers debating an annual Pentagon spending bill adopted an amendment restricting Washington's ability to help fighters looking to overthrow longtime Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.
The House was expected to vote Friday on approving the underlying bill, but the provision on Libya's rebels could face stiff opposition in Senate, which must approve the legislation to send it to Obama to sign into law.
Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma introduced the measure at a time when many US lawmakers have expressed anger at President Barack Obama's handling of the conflict, which is unpopular with the US public.
It forbids the Pentagon from providing "military equipment, military training or advice, or other support for military activities, to any group or individual, not part of a country's armed forces, for the purpose of assisting that group or individual in carrying out military activities in or against Libya."
"Congress has allowed the president to overreach in Libya," Cole said in a statement after the vote, denouncing the US role in NATO-led, UN-mandated operations in Libya as an "ill-advised adventure."
But Republican Senator John McCain, a strong backer of the rebels, denounced the vote as "deeply disturbing" and warned it "sends exactly the wrong message to Kadhafi and those fighting for freedom and democracy in Libya -- especially since Kadhafi is clearly crumbling."