U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with Iraq speaker of parliament Saleem al-Jabouri to secure an additional $9 million in humanitarian aid for the war-torn Islamic country, the White House announced Friday.
President Obama dropped by later in the day to discuss ISIS, the terrorist organization that is rapidly advancing across Syria and Iraq amid continuous U.S. air strikes in key regions. The latest commitment brings U.S. financial aid totals for Iraq to $416 million since 2014.
For the Obama administration, Friday's statement caps a busy week in ongoing battle with ISIS.
A Pentagon budget breakdown released Thursday revealed that U.S. spending has reached $2.74 billion - or about $9.1 million a day - in fighting the Islamic militant group since last August. More than $1.8 million went to airstrikes while a quarter of spending went to weaponry between August 2014 and late May, the report read. Two-thirds of funds have gone to the Air Force.
On Wednesday, Obama said 450 military personnel would be sent to Iraq to train and assist security forces battling ISIS, bringing the U.S. total to 3,500.
"Success will not occur overnight," Obama said last April following a pledge of $200 million in additional humanitarian aid. "But what is clear is that we will be successful."
Pentagon defense spending will continue to increase thanks to a $579 billion bill passed by the House Thursday. The bill passed 278-149 despite opposition from Democrats and some Republicans because it uses a war-fighting account as its financial source.
Obama received defense money he requested but does so by exceeding the spending cap by $40 million. The president has said he will veto any legislation that does not treat defense and non-defense spending equally.
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