The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to repatriate from Libya the remains of 13 navy commandos killed in 1804 during the First Barbary War and buried in mass graves in Tripoli.

The measure, an amendment to a $690 billion defense bill, passed by voice vote. But it acknowledged that no action should be taken until the end of the current war in Libya pitting loyalist troops against rebel forces seeking to oust longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi.

"The United States has an obligation to leave no member of our military behind, regardless of how long ago they were killed," said Congressman Mike Rogers, an army veteran who sponsored the bill with fellow Republican Representative Frank LoBiondo.

"Bringing the remains of those brave members of our military home and giving them a proper military funeral will finally end a tragic story that has lasted far too long."

The American sailors, the first US commandos and precursors of today's prestigious Navy SEALs, were killed when the USS Intrepid exploded in Tripoli Harbor.

After washing ashore, their bodies were fed to a pack of dogs as US prisoners of war looked on before being dumped into two mass graves, according to Rogers.

He said the sites were in "terrible disrepair" and one was about to wash out to sea.

The First Barbary War of 1801-1805 was the first of two wars fought between the United States and a group of North African nations known as the Barbary States.

earlier related report
Lawmakers bar US ground troops from Libya
Washington (AFP) May 26, 2011 - The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Thursday to bar US forces and private contractors from operating on the ground in Libya, where rebels are fighting to oust Moamer Kadhafi.

The measure, passed in a 416-5 vote, was an amendment to a $690 defense bill that also limits President Barack Obama's authority on handling terror suspects and reducing the US nuclear weapons stockpile under the new START treaty with Russia.

The amendment barred the Obama administration from using funds being approved in the overall defense bill to "deploy, establish or maintain" US ground forces in Libya except to rescue a US service member from "imminent danger."

Another approved measure "would clarify that the United States Congress has not authorized military actions in Libya," reflecting lawmakers' complaints that Obama had violated the 1973 War Powers Resolution by not obtaining congressional approval for US military operations there.

Under the federal law, a president has a 60-day limit to send troops into combat without congressional approval. But the Obama administration maintains that permission was not required for a NATO support mission.

Previous administrations have ignored the law, and both the president and the authors of the resolution maintain that the congressional green light is not necessary for "limited" military operations like the Libyan intervention. Anti-war Congressman Dennis Kucinich said the votes indicated "growing" opposition to the now NATO-led air war in Libya, which the Pentagon says will cost the United States an estimated $750 million by the end of September.

"Congress is not satisfied with the blank check that this administration has written for itself to conduct the Libyan war," said the Ohio Democrat, who has proposed a resolution due to be debated next week that directs Obama to withdraw all US forces from the fight.

"Congress has drawn a line in the sand. We will not stand for mission creep that puts boots on the ground in Libya. Further attempts to expand the Libyan war will not be tolerated."

The United States has played a supporting role in the NATO-led campaign since April 1, providing refueling tankers, surveillance aircraft and munitions but not fighter jets.

Starting on April 21, the United States also contributed two unmanned Predator drones to join in air strikes against Moamer Kadhafi's regime.

The Pentagon has also acknowledged for the first time that it was supplying NATO allies with ammunition and spare parts.

Tweet

Related Links