I Am So Fucking Fed Up With Our Tax Dollars Going To These Phony Wars!!

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Gates Sees Need for at Least $83 Billion More in 2009 for Wars

By Congress Check in Uncategorized on February 20th, 2009

Tony Capaccio
Bloomberg
February 20, 2009

The Pentagon needs at least $83 billion more for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of this fiscal year, Pentagon officials told the White House.

This figure includes $7.3 billion to pay for adding troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials wrote to the Office of Management and Budget on Feb. 3. The U.S. will add about 17,000 to its force of 38,000, President Barack Obama announced this week.

The $83 billion is $13.3 billion more than Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in late December was needed. That estimate of $69.7 billion didn’t include the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan, he said then.

Congress already has approved $65.9 billion in emergency wartime spending for fiscal 2009, which ends Sept. 30. The latest request would bring the amount to about $149 billion.



http://www.congresscheck.com/2009/02/20/gates-sees-need-for-at-least-83-billion-more-in-2009-for-wars/

[Fovea]

1. Let us have a national defense force

And take apart the military industrial corporatist complex.

Let's get down to 10% of the budget and actually defend America.

[panader0]

2. AGREED

It does not make us safer. It does not promote democracy. What was stat I read? That our "defense" budget is equal to all other nations combined? It's not defense if we are in someone else's nation. It's offense. To say we are fighting "over there" so we don't have to fight here is bush bush bush. It only makes it worse. God bless our vets, active and retired. They deserve better than to be used as they are.
edit to recommend

[Orwellian_Ghost]

7. The bipartisan consensus on U.S. military spending

Global Security has taken the Fiscal Year 2008 U.S. budget and prepared a new chart illustrating the most significant and under-discussed political fact in the United States, one that substantially affects every other issue:





Our military spending exceeds the rest of the world's spending combined, and we spend almost 10 times what the second-place country, China, spends. "Only" about $150 billion of the total U.S. amount is attributable to the two active wars we're fighting, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus, even if one wants to excludes those amounts, the basic picture remains the same. Nor do these amounts include the billions of dollars in military aid we give to fund the armies of other countries, such as Israel and Egypt, which alone comprise substantial portions of those countries' defense budgets.

And this gap between us and the rest of the world has widened considerably over the last 10 years. That's true because our own military spending, in absolute terms, has increased wildly during that time:




And it's also true because, even though we were already spending many times more than everyone else in the world during the mid-1990s, the explosion in our military spending over the last 10 years has far outpaced the rest of the world, resulting in a larger gap than ever before:



The complete absurdity of this state of affairs is self-evident, but is also acutely highlighted by this revealing statistic:

The US military budget was almost 29 times as large as the combined spending of the six "rogue" states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $14.65 billion.

<snip>

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/02/military_spending/

In indisputable sum, we are the world's empire, in a state of permanent war readiness. In American politics and policy, there is no distinction between "peacetime" and "war." We're the most militarized country in the world by far, on permanent war footing, far beyond what anyone could ever remotely argue is necessary for "defense" or a "strong defense," no matter how broad a definition one wants to adopt for those terms.

[leftstreet]

3. Why can't the Offense Department live within its means?

Oh, wait.

K&R

[G_j]

4. K&R!

[Gregorian]

5. Fourth thread on the Latest page, and this is already on the Greatest!

That says a lot.

Let's all rise up and demand an end to this nightmare. Said the drunk. Because this isn't going to be easy. Too many military employees.

[TBF]

22. Maybe those military employees can be put to work building bridges,

roads, upgrading schools, hospitals, etc... The US is crumbling around us, plenty for them to do. You may be drunk but you're more lucid than Obama on this topic.

[Sebastian Doyle]

6. It's way overdue.

Afghanistan my ass! Everyone from Gengis Khan and Alexander the Great to the British & Soviet empires has found out the hard way that you cannot win in Afghanistan. Why the Hell are we there? Even the original excuse of "smoking Bin Laden out of his cave" was bullshit, as there's not a shred of evidence he was there in 2001 at all.

Chimpy went there to protect the family heroin business, and to build the UNOCAL pipeline. The fact that Hamid Karzai was a UNOCAL employee should have made that more than obvious.

End the occupations. Bankrupt the "defense" contractors. Hang the mercenaries for treason, and never let this shit happen again.

[qwertyMike]

23. Afghanistan

The Black Hole of Imperialists.

I like these guys.

[lostnotforgotten]

37. We're There To Protect The Poppy Crop - I Though Everyone Knew

eom

[Oregone]

8. Freedom isn't free

Nor or many automobiles. They both come with limited warranties and unsupported product claims. Be careful you do not invest everything you have in either, or you may wind up with nothing in the end.

[Thickasabrick]

9. I think they need the wars to keep the economy going - sick but I

wouldn't be surprised.

[girl gone mad]

18. I don't know how much it's stimulating the economy..

with all of the largess that gets skimmed off by contractors, but it does keep a lot of potentially rebellious young men preoccupied.

[maryf]

29. See how much it really costs here:

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

From the page:

"Consider the costs...

* $4,681 per household.
* $1,721 per person.
* $341.4 million per day."

That's 1/3 of a billion per day!!! How is this stimulating the economy????

From the calculator provided to show a comparison cost:

"Taxpayers in the United States will pay $656.1 billion for total Iraq war spending approved to date. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
5,103,740 Affordable Housing Units"


Sure would house all the homeless...

[earth mom]

10. Between the phony wars & bailing out the banks the country will be bankrupt soon.

:argh:

[maryf]

32. Public debt almost 6 trillion...

http://zfacts.com/p/461.html

General Fund debt is 10 trillion, its saved by Social Security and Medicare with surpluses...

What amount would make us claim bankruptcy, I wonder...

[yy4me]

11. I am sick and tired of all wars. I was born during WW11, and have

seen Korea, Vietnam, this disaster in Iraq plus all the smaller wars like Bosnia and the like. I am tired us the US being the worlds bully, tired of letting our own citizens suffer and die for causes around the world. Most of the aggression, wherever it is, seems to find us involved. For all the soldiers who have suffered and died for what they believed was our national security, I feel great sorrow.

WHY? I see no reason. Keep our citizens home and take there of us instead. We are no longer governed by "we the people", we are governed by the military. I have had enough. In my old age, I do not want to see another war...and here we go, Afghanistan.

Expletive deleted!!!

[Gregorian]

14. Take a look at this post.

I just saw this, and it's perhaps a relief. I was pretty disturbed by Obama's mentioning of Afghanistan during the election. But I don't see him as a war person.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5105282

[rrneck]

12. We spent a long time

buying into this mess, and it will take a while to get out. A lot of jobs depend on the military industrial complex. The current budget situation over the F-22 is a good example. Defense contractors spread contracts in as many congressional districts as possible to insure support from congress by holding their constituents jobs hostage.

Killing and incarcerating people should not be profitable.

[gratuitous]

13. Gates needs $83 billion? I'll donate

Here's a tin cup, Bobby. I recommend you start with Eric Prince and Dick Cheney. Best of luck.

[corpseratemedia]

15. I guess this will become like the M$$M wants it to be defined as:

Obama's War.

Quagmire verion 4.0

[bob4460]

16. WE NEED TO TAKE A TRIP BACK TO 1972

Golden country your face is so red
With all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand

Mortgage people you crawl to your homes
Your security lies in your bed of white foam
You act concerned but then why turn away
When a lady was raped on your doorstep today
Well your blacks are cryin but your back is still turned
And your freaks are dyin but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand, oh yeah......

(solo)

Golden country your face is so red
With all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand

(repeat)

[bob4460]

17. sry for the all caps n/t

[LaPera]

19. It keeps social programs from being utilized, gutted for corporate profits, republicans

purpose, and truly, their ideology.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

20. Look upthread

you'll see it's bipartisan.

[TBF]

21. I don't want them to go to phony or real wars - let's try peace.

I grew up with a father 100% disabled in the Viet Nam "conflict". Living with the aftermath of war is no bed of roses. Maybe we could try diplomacy? (or keeping our fingers out of places they don't belong)

[Stinky The Clown]

24. Lyndon Millhouse Obama?

I'm just sayin' .......

[L0oniX]

25. Oh if only we were spending it on "defense". IT IS OFFENSE!

The time for defense was before 911 and since they failed to protect us they claim they need more of our money. BULLSHIT! When I pay for services and they fail me and then tell me they can do the job for more money ....well you can guess what I tell them to go do.

[LuckyLib]

26. "there is no distinction between 'peacetime' and 'war.'"

This is where we are, almost a decade into the 21st century. The US: always armed and always dangerous.

[Raster]

27. The Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and Pentagon-for-profit are bleeding us dry.

The war machine's feeding on the United States must cease.

[steelmania75]

28. Yet the GOP is against government spending, LMAO!

We're going to have to get out of these wars within the next two years. This should help our government budget and our national public debt.

[BlooInBloo]

30. Does "discrentionary budget" basically mean "not counting anything bigger than defense"?

[Initech]

31. They just dont fucking get it, do they?

END THE GOD DAMN WAR RIGHT NOW OBAMA!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :grr:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. That light at the end of the tunnel is mighty expensive to search for.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan...it's gotta be out there somewhere.

[Flatulo]

34. Where are SS and Medicare/Medicaid on that pie chart?

What percentage of the budget is defense if entitlements are included?

[Sebastian Doyle]

35. That would probably fall under "social services"

And with that at a "whopping" 6% compared to 59% for the "defense" budget, it proves how fucked up the priorities are.

[Astrad]

36. The chart only shows 'discretionary' spending.

Social Security, Medicare and debt payments are not discretionary.

[maryf]

38. Actually

ss and medi are in the black, they are currently making money, which is actually why the public debt, is lower than it could be...I'm not sure they are on the chart at all...

[scarletwoman]

39. Hear! Hear! There really needs to be an end to this shit! It's time for this planet to belong

to the People, not the Masters of War.

sw

[MNLeftie]

40. Bring 'em all home

NOW and let the fucking countries deal with their own problems. Iraq, Afganistan, South Korea, Germany, Phillipines...all of them.

Seriously, what is the deal? Why do we keep our military engaged in some many places around the world? And at what cost? Iraq should be able to have whatever government they want. The Russians went broke in Afganistan, so let's make a concentrated effort to get Bin Laden, snuff the bastard and get the hell out. Let the Pakistanis and Afgans have at it. Pakistan has the bomb...who's next? (Remember Tom Lerher's hilarious parody from the 60's?)

Just think what we could do with that military budget if it wasn't stretched to the limits by our military brain trust! The world's police force. Bring the Navy home to protect our shores. Police our southern borders to cease the endless invasion from Mexico and beyond. Make homeland security really mean something...gawd I'm starting to sound like a rethuglican.

[bertman]

41. I'm all for curbing the influence and dollars going to the MIC, but I would like to point

out that "defense" is not just being able to repel an invasion of our nation. It is much bigger and more complex than that. Just one quick example: the Chinese navy is producing thousands of diesel submarines. These subs are not even close to our nuclear subs in terms of range, lethality, ability to stay hidden, etc. But what they are is NUMEROUS. There are several places in the world where a strategic submarine attack could bring a halt to the transport of vital supplies to and from Asia to the rest of the world. This would probably be even more effective at stopping the world economy than the current efforts by the Financial Elites, but that is probably debateable.

My point is that we need to have a presence around the world. But it does not have to be a malignant presence, as it is now. Of course, that is because the MIC is now the enforcement arm of the New World Order. So, until we are able to dismantle that beast we will have a very difficult time reducing the trillions of $$$$ that go to the MIC.

[TBF]

42. I disagree. We have how many nuclear weapons? We could easily

maintain what we have and make a threat or two if we need to and be able to guard our country just fine. We don't need our fingers in everyone else's business. Where it gets "more complex" is the fact that we're burning through natural resources at warp speed so we go to other places to replenish. We're not in Afghanistan to "liberate the women" anymore than we were after "WMD" in Iraq. We are smoothing the way for corporate interests. It needs to stop.