White House Seeks Iraq War Funds For 2008

    The weasels in the White House are going to ask Congress for $100 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan this year in addition to the $70 billion that is already in the till. On top of that, Bush is seeking $145 billion for 2008!

   I'm just wondering why he needs the cash for 2008 unless he intends to still have us in these places. Either that or he and his corporate crooks are going to funnel it into their pockets somehow.

The Nation  Ari Berman

The costs of Iraq and Afghanistan aren't even included in the $481 billion the Pentagon demands for 2008, a 10 percent raise over this year. Total these figures up and Bush is asking for roughly $745 billion in defense spending, a higher number, when adjusted for inflation, than the entire cost of the Vietnam War.

Just pause and consider the size of that number. Three-quarters of a trillion dollars and Osama bin Laden is still at large, the Taliban are regrouping in Afghanistan and the US military is stuck in a civil war in Iraq.

"We have the largest Pentagon budget since World War II, but we are losing to an opponent in Iraq that spends less over an entire year than what we spend in one day," says Winslow Wheeler, a longtime defense expert at the Center for Defense Information.

   One of these days, when I grow up, I want to be a war profiteer like George Bush is!

    We can only hope that the Congress tells Bush where he can go and what he can do with himself. There is no reason to fund this mess with this kind of money just so the U.S. can continue to lose its troops in a civil war and we get no return on the investment.

                  IMPEACH! INDICT! IMPRISON!

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, War, Funds, 2008, White house

 

Iraq Scams, Another Downed Chopper and Other News

   From BBC:

Five charged over US Iraq 'scam'

The group are alleged to have run the scam for two years

A US court has charged three reserve army officers and two civilians with using millions of dollars of Iraq reconstruction money for personal gain.

The group are accused of directing at least $8m (£4m) to a construction firm run by a US businessman in return for luxuries such as cars and jewellery.

The officers were responsible for supervising how some $26bn was spent on reconstruction projects in Iraq.

One man has already been jailed and another awaits sentence over the scam.

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BBC:

US helicopter crash kills seven

The US military has lost dozens of helicopters over Iraq

A US Sea Knight helicopter has gone down near Baghdad, killing all seven crewmembers and passengers on board, the US military has said.

It said the cause of the crash - the fifth such incident this year - was being investigated.

It come three days after the US said ground fire apparently caused the four previous helicopter losses, which claimed 20 lives.

                           * * * *

BBC

Bremer quizzed over cash for Iraq

The former head of the US-led civilian administration in Iraq has defended his decision to send billions of dollars in cash to Baghdad in 2003 and 2004.

Paul Bremer told a Congressional committee investigating allegations of waste and fraud that he had done his best to kick-start Iraq's economy.

The funds came from Iraqi oil revenue and previously frozen assets.

Much of the money went missing and critics say there was no system to track how it was used.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, U.S. Chopper, Bremer