Posted on 02/14/2005 10:16:27 AM PST by CitizenHelper
WASHINGTON - President Bush was poised to officially ask Congress Monday for an estimated $82 billion to cover the costs of continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a myriad of other internationally related expenses, including training Iraqi security forces and aiding victims of the tsunami.
The White House was to send the supplemental budget request to Capitol Hill late Monday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
Included in the request is $74.9 billion for the Defense Department, including $5 billion for transforming Army divisions and brigades and $5.7 billion for training and equipping Iraqi military and police, according to a federal official familiar with the supplemental.
The remaining money in the supplemental request includes $950 million to help areas affected by the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean; $350 million to aid the Palestinians; $400 million to reward nations that have taken political and economic risks to join U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan; money to help build a U.S. embassy in Baghdad; reconstruction funds for Afghanistan; and money for the Darfur region of western Sudan where a 2-year-old civil conflict has left tens of thousands off people killed and more than 2 million displaced.
In a written statement on this issue earlier, President Bush had said the special appropriation would support U.S. troops and help the United States "stand with the Iraqi people and against the terrorists trying desperately to block democracy and the advance of human rights."
The Army wants to use the $5 billion to convert 33 brigades and regiments about 30 of which are organized into 10 divisions into a force of 43 to 48 brigades that would operate more independently.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Yeah, you are.
But you're much more a gentleman than I am.
But I'm workin on it Wfan. ;o)
So....... I'm not on your 'ignore list' any more because you couldn't stop calling me names?
I told you I'm tryin. ;o)
And you're doin' good, iconoclast. ;o)
"Are you joking? We have been spreading democracy and freeing Iraq from a brutal dictatorship. Haven't you heard? It is as much for Iraq as it is for you and me. Iraq better pay off this war debt. Trust me, if they had to pay us for their security that we are now providing and had to satisfy the international bond holders, the insurgency would be long gone. They have over 5 trillion of oil reserve. They don't deserve a penny of US taxdollars."
First and foremost, we went into Iraq to protect American citizens at home. Do the Iraqi's benefit? Yes, but we did not do that just for them.
Your idea that if we just made them pay, then the insurgency would be gone is correct, but here is what you have not thought about. Iraqis are not trained to defend themselves. That means that the insurgency would have taken over the country and we would be in the same position that we were in with Saddam in power. The reason that we are spreading Democracy is to attempt to give Iraq a better future. In the process, yes we have lost a lot of troops, but if we were not spreading Democracy, we also would not still be there training their forces.
You are absolutely correct in your depiction of the outcome of making them pay, except all the wrong people would be in charge and the Iraqis would have no way to change it. We would have had to go back in and it would have cost us even more in the future than it has now.
"Working Late! Thanks For The Fix!"
I have been known to work late also. Watch my math for me just in case.
I did not put much thought into my screen name. I came up with Joe the Pirate in a moment of goofiness.
By the way, I am a Dodgers fan. Sigh...
Hey..........better than being an Indians fan.
We already have a 51st state. ;o)
i'm not a troll, just a concerned citizen. the cost of this war is spiraling out of control, where do they find this money?
If you are passing out Kool-Aid, I'll pass.
Who gave you the idea that the 'oil was supposed to pay for this venture?'
I'm just drawn to you and your obviously searing intellect because your post is so deep and thought provoking. How long did it take you to come up with the concept of "Kool-Aid?" Weeks?? Months?? Years??
Well........gotta go. I have a funny feeling that nothing worthwhile is going to be forthcoming from your fertile mind.......
btw.......you should get together with ShadowDancer. He functions at pretty much the same level as you do.........
Okay, thanks for sharing.
The Stepford Wife thing is exceptionally amusing. I marveled for hours at how cute it was........and how very smart you must be to have come up with it.
You have an awful lot of time on your hands, don't you?
I hope that I never become an unthinking robot like you have turned out to be.
I just enjoy ribbing people who say really dumb things to me. :o)
I've probably thought more deeply in the past hour than you have in your entire lifetime.
(A fact which was proven by your exceedingly stupid and shallow "Kool-aid" post........although 'sheep' and 'robot' are just as dumb).
Might I suggest that you begin thinking for yourself, as I do, so you don't say such silly things about things you know nothing about. OK?
Now, I have actually discussed the issue on this thread with other adults here, so unless you have something intelligent to say to me regarding the issue itself, why don't you find someone more your level to play with (i.e. lower)?
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