Posted on 02/26/2006 10:20:25 AM PST by churchillbuff
Some big bills are about to come due for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rebuilding along the Gulf Coast.
A Senate G-O-P aide says President Bush is set to request 70 (B) billion dollars in special funding for the two wars.
And the official says Bush will seek another 18 (B) billion dollars for rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That number's in addition to the 85 (B) billion already committed to the Gulf Coast reconstruction.
Wrong again. Try GW Bush.
Think some odd years ahead and see how ridiculous you sound. How does no oil sound? With the chicoms making deals for oil all over the mideast and south America, how long til they really put the sqeeze on us?
Most of us don't care to see our economy tank. Yours will always be the short sighted minority opinion.
"Anyone with an open mind - most recently, Bill Buckley - has to admit the invasion didn't accomplish what we were promised. And it wasn't necessary because Iraq, a fifth world power with no WMDs, was no threat to us."
I agree- part of being a mature adult is being willing to admit you were wrong. I supported this war. I thought it would be a relatively short war, would find WMDs, and would leave us in a stronger position strategically. I was wrong on all counts, as was Bush. At this point, I have a hard time seeing what world anyone who says this war is worth the $500 billion or so it will cost is living in.
You're apparently one of those guys who's fine with writing checks to the federal government, as long as a Republican is in the White House. Me, I prefer doing right by my family rather than shipping my paycheck to the spendthrifts, of either party, in D.C.
The Russians lured us into this war on their terms. While the French, Germans, Russkies, and Arabs delayed U.N. action, all Saddam's WMD's were smuggled into Syria. Spetnatz troops on the ground conducted the most successful ruse in history. With months of delay, our troops only found what the Russians intended for us to find. The MSM has been misled. The White House cannot tell the world what really happened. Diplomacy requires that Russia and the U.S. pretend to be friends. Truth be told, the Russians were playing chess and Bush was playing poker.
O come on already were's this madness going to stop.I
DONT WANT PAY TO FIX THE FREAKING MOSQUE.
This is crazy something has gotta give.
Buy GOLD now.
I hope someday they discover oil in Iraq
Right .... .
If God told him to do it be glad he did no matter how much the cost.. 'you see'...
It's the total cost we 'won't see' that we should be grateful for not having to pay....
Another 09-11 would bury us all and there isn't enough money
in the world to bring us back after...at least not the way we were..
Many of our wealthiest founders died penniless after they freed us...and 'the people' never gave them one nickel for their sacrifices...
And American history classes in public schools never even mention their names...
imo
in the world to bring us back after...at least not the way we were..
That is pure grandstanding bunk, of which you have nothing but conjecture on your side.
Have a question for those in the know. Is this money going to support our troops, or to rebuild their infrastructure, or for the Iraqui people? That would be the big question because we all support the troops obviously but what and how much do we owe the Iraqui people?
Yes, the cost of national defense is an irksome thing. It would be nice if we didn't have enemies in this world, foreign and domestic.
Only if a demorat spends it...repubs get a free pass to bankrupt the nation. Its so much better to get screwed by your "friends" than your enemies, no?
I know that. But try telling that to the glass half full groups. They think Hansen is so knowledgeable, even to the point of visiting Iraq once or twice, that he could run our foreign policy...when in fact none of his comparisons to ancient Greece are even applicable
Issues for Congress
In light of this lack of transparency about funding for war-related activities, Congress may want to examine current reporting requirements.
The Defense Department is currently not required to identify the amount of funds requested or report its plans once funds are appropriated for each of the three missions.
DOD also does not report, by public law, which funds are tapped (from supplementals or regular bills) to meet war expenses.
Starting on October 31, 2005, DOD is required to report the cumulative totals to date for Iraq and Afghanistan but not for enhanced base security.
Given DOD’s difficulties in tracking and segregating war-related costs, Congress may want to consider having DOD set up separate accounts for warrelated expenses that would build on DFAS tracking categories. DOD is also not required to request all war-related funds on a mission basis.
It would be useful to know DOD’s initial plans by mission for Iraq, Afghanistan, enhanced security, or other missions in the “global war on terrorism,” for all funds appropriated and transferred in order to compare those plans with later obligations and assess the accuracy of DOD’s forecasts.
Counter Insurgency (or in this case, Counter Terrorism) is a strange bastard style of war. It is not total war but it is also more then the Leftist" Police matter" One of the thing most old Cast Iron Conservatives choose to forget is the political aspect. Iraq was doable. We had the political consensus to do it. So since we needed a kill zone we could suck the terrorists into and we needed to get the American people to support the mission, there was no other choice BUT Iraq.
Want to really blow the Leftists minds? Tell them this. Even if Al Gore won in 2000 and 9-11 happened the USA would STILL be doing the same thing now in Iraq. Iraq was doable militarily and politically. There was no other place for the US to go after Afganistan. Iraq is basically the same deal as the invasion of Italy was in 1943
Here in a nutshell, is the MILTIARY reason for Iraq. The War on Terrorism is different sort of war. In the war on Terrorism, we have a hidden foe, spread out across a geographically diverse area, with covert sources of supply. Since we cannot go everywhere they hide out, in fact often cannot even locate them until the engage us, we need to draw them out of hiding into a kill zone. Iraq is that kill zone. That is the true brilliance of the Iraq strategy. We draw the terrorists out of their world wide hiding places onto a battlefield they have to fight on for political reasons (The "Holy" soil of the Arabian peninsula) where they have to pit their weakest ability (Conventional Military combat power) against our greatest strength (ability to call down unbelievable amounts of firepower) where they will primarily have to fight other forces (the Iraqi Security forces) in a battlefield that is hostile to guerrilla warfare. (Iraqi-mostly open terrain as opposed to guerrilla friendly areas like the mountains of Afghanistan or the jungles of SE Asia).
There are other reasons to do Iraq but that is the MILITARY reason we are in Iraq. We have taken, an maintain the initiative from the Terrorists. They are playing OUR game on ground of OUR choosing.
Problem is Counter Insurgency is SLOW and painful. Often a case of 3 steps forward, two steps back. I often worry that the American people have neither the maturity, nor the intellect" to understand. It's so much easier to spew made for TV slogans like "No Blood for Oil" or "We support the Troops, bring them home" then to actually THINK. Problem is these people have NO desire to co-exist with us. They see all this PC posturing by the Hysteric Left as a sign that we are weak. Since they want us dead, weakness encourages them. They think their "god" will bless them for killing Westerners.
So we can covert to Islam, die or kill them. Iraq is about killing enough of them to make the rest realize we are serious. See in the Arab world the USA is considered a big wimp. We have run away so many times. Lebanon, the Kurds, the Iraqis in 1991, the Iranians, Somalia, Clinton all thru the 1990s etc etc etc. The Jihadists think we will run again. In fact they are counting on it. That way they can run around screaming "We beat the American just like the Russians, come join us in Jihad" and recruit the next round of "holy warriors". Iraq is also a show place where we show the Muslim world that there are a lines they cannot cross. On 9-11 they crossed that line and we can, and will, destroy them for it.
Thanks, interesting.
Looks like they need to hire some good government CPA's, an accounting of what the money is allocated for and what it's spent may keep everyone honest.
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