U.S. Lower House rejects extra funding for wars

A bill that would provide over $US 160 billion of funding for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has been rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans withheld their votes claiming Democrats had added unrelated domestic spending to the bill that would have delayed the troops’ funding.

The Senate is due to debate its version of the bill next week.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates is urging the Pentagon to focus on fighting current wars, even if it means putting off more expensive weapons for the future and straining the army.

He says Iraq is a war that “must be won”.

RT military analyst Evgeny Khrushchev believes Robert Gates is part of the new strategy.

“The number one challenge for him is to get rid of the legacy of his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, whose strategy was focused on hi-tech warfare,” Khrushchev said.