WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says it will be able to fund the training of Iraqi security forces for the next 90 days, even though Congress did not include money for the program in its temporary budget resolution that took effect Monday.
Pentagon press secretary George Little says $1.7 million will be used from a special combatant commanders initiative fund to continue the training. Officials say there are roughly 160 military personnel doing the training in Iraq.
The money will also allow the U.S. to continue a separate program that trains Iraq's counterterrorism forces.
The funding is a temporary solution while officials seek a longer term fix in the 2013 budget bill.
Congress has left Washington until after the election. Lawmakers were only able to pass a six-month stopgap spending measure.
