Letter: Wars winding down, so should contingency fund
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I was disturbed to learn that, in its budget request of March 4, the Obama administration asked Congress for $80 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations in addition to core Pentagon spending of about $500 billion.
This account was created to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With those wars over, the account should disappear. Instead, it seems to be becoming a permanent slush fund that could help the Pentagon get around the effect of budget cuts — a luxury that no other parts of the government have.
I hope Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee realize that we need to reinvest the money we've been spending on war on other priorities, not provide extra padding for the Pentagon's already well-endowed budget.
Dave Powelson
Logan