U.S. Senate approves new annual defense bill

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Senate has approved a new annual defense bill expanding the military campaign against Islamic State (IS), according to BBC News.

The bill approves a general Pentagon budget of $496bn plus $64bn for U.S. wars abroad. It also authorizes the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebel fighters for two years.

The bill had already been passed by the House of Representatives and has now been sent to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

IS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, imposing a rigid version of Sunni Islam and persecuting or killing non-believers. The U.S.-led coalition has launched more than 600 air strikes against IS militant targets in Iraq since the campaign began on Aug 8.

The U.S., with Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has also carried out almost 500 attacks on IS in neighboring Syria since Sept 23.

Until now, U.S. operations against IS had been funded from the existing Pentagon budget.

The new bill, which was passed by 89 votes to 11, approves $3.4bn for the direct deployment of U.S. forces against IS, and a further $1.6bn for training Iraqi Kurdish forces for two years.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) had been the subject of cross-party talks for several months.

The bill rejected President Obama's request to approve the closure of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay. It also extended a ban on transferring inmates from the prison to the U.S.

The bill protected for another year the fleet of aging A-10 "Warthog" ground-support aircraft, whose retirement had been proposed.

A 1% pay rise for military personnel was also agreed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid lauded the bill, saying "it enhances our efforts to keep our warfighters safe on the battlefield, and it authorizes the resources needed to responsibly conclude our combat mission in Afghanistan".

The bill also requires the provision of annual mental health screenings for military personnel.