WASHINGTON - A US Senate panel onTuesday voted to eliminate funding for a police training programfor Iraq, saying the danger and expense were just too greatafter the American troop pullout last year.
"Why keep throwing good money after bad?" asked SenatorPatrick Leahy, a Democrat and chairman of the Senateappropriations subcommittee on foreign aid.
The panel refused to provide $850 million that PresidentBarack Obama's administration requested for fiscal year 2013 forthe program, in which U.S. security advisers are training Iraqipolice. It has been seen as a key component of the US civilianaid mission to Iraq now that U.S. troops are gone.
The subcommittee's decision must still be ratified by thefull Senate and the House of Representatives for it to becomelaw.