"Today, the U.S. Senate rejected legislation that would cut off money for combat operations in Iraq after March 1, 2008." -AP news report
"..,Congress has approved five emergency-spending measures since Sept. 11, 2001, and other federal money has been moved into the effort to wage battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. In all, more than $400 billion will have been set aside or spent by the end of this year (2006).
The administration plans to seek the additional $70 billion as special "supplemental" funding, an emergency procedure outside the regular budget process that has stirred controversy on Capitol Hill." - By Mark Mazzetti and Joel Havemann -2006 Los Angeles Times article
Five (or is it now six, going on seven?) times the Bush administration has asked Congress to approve additional funding for these wars. The key word is "additional." This administration is so incompetent that they cannot figure out a winning strategy or budget for waging war in two countries that have no military, to speak of. I repeat, the USA has spent billions on military industrial weapons to bomb the shyte out of people reduced to living in a virtual stone age after decades of war. I am inclined to support the President's veto of his latest request for war funds and NOT give him anything. There is a massive war budget, without this supplemental funding, for him to dip into. Maybe if Congress stopped approving these requests the war would end? I feel that this is too obvious and simplistic a solution, but sometimes the obvious is ignored.
I remember reading about the American Revolutionary War and wondering why British soldiers wore bright red uniforms, lined up in straight lines, fired guns and were picked off by American snipers and sharp shooters. It was obvious that this was wrong. Americans used tactics learned from their battles with Indians - guerrilla war tactics. Rather than be a bright red target for anyone who wants to kill something, they used stealth, withdrawal and intelligence to win the war.
The Bushites live in a "stay the course" fog that cannot be penetrated with any obvious truth or justice. What is the course??? Like the British of the 1700s they underestimate and denigrate their opposition. Bush supporters stick to their belief in a godly, military-industrial-corporate merger. They use the word "patriotism" as a glittering facade - hiding their dangerous neocon and theocon agendas for a new (or old) world order which eliminates the rights of individuals in conflict with those in power. The latest "supplemental war funding request" should be the last.. request, that is.
We are not lemmings. Suicide is not part of the American psyche. Americans elected Democrats to stop the hemorrhaging of lives, money and international goodwill. The Bush bloodletting must stop and those Democrats and Republicans that are "supporting the troops" with more of the same lies, incompetence and stupidity are choosing to kill their political careers over a losing cause. They are also choosing to put our soldiers in bright red suits with targets on them so they can be tortured, maimed, killed by the Shias, or the Sunnis, or al Qaeda, or anyone who hates America.
5/24/07 Update: Congress backs Iraq funding bill.
Reported/Estimated Deaths caused by the Iraq war.
Congress is ignoring the will of the people.
