Obama signs $633-billion military bill despite earlier threat of vetoing it
US President Barack Obama has signed into law a USD 633-billion military bill for 2013 despite his earlier threat to veto the measure due a number of reasons. ● The president on Wednesday night signed the bill using an autopen while on vacation with his family in Hawaii. Obama said that although he is still against certain sections of the bill, "the need to renew critical defense authorities and funding was too great to ignore." The bill had been approved by the House of Representatives and Senate in December. It includes cuts in defense spending agreed upon by the president and congressional Republicans in August 2011. It also authorizes nearly USD 480 million for the Israeli regime’s missile system and allocates USD 88.5 billion for the US-led war in Afghanistan, despite the Obama administration’s declared plans to draw down its forces in the Asian country.