Aid Groups Urge Bush to Seek Funds for Afghanistan

Leading humanitarian organizations called on President Bush today to ask Congress for more money to finance Afghan reconstruction, rather than draining existing development accounts to rebuild the war-torn nation.

The 23 groups, all members of InterAction, the nation's largest coalition of nongovernmental organizations involved in international development and humanitarian assistance, said, "It is essential that the money provided for Afghanistan not come at the expense" of other overseas aid programs.

President Bush should start by asking Congress to increase overall spending on international affairs next year, the groups said in their letter, which was delivered to the White House Tuesday. And if there is a supplemental request to fund further activities in Afghanistan, they said, those funds should include the money for reconstruction and development.

In addition to the president, the correspondence went to Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security advisor Condoleeza Rice and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Andrew Natsios.

Click here to read the full text of the letter (5Kb .pdf file).