Friday, November 13, 2009
According to White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, rolling over for Gen. Stan McChrystal’s request for 40,000 additional U.S. troops for Afghanistan will cost the American taxpayer $40 billion dollars.
Speaking yesterday at the Bloomberg Washington Summit, Orszag said “every 10,000 troops would entail a fiscal year cost of about $10 billion.” Since the October 2001 invasion, the U.S. has spent $155.7 billion on the Afghanistan war, according to the Pentagon comptroller.
In the midst of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, should the American people be asked to spend an additional $40 billion dollars to send 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan just to keep Karzai in power?
Is this a joke? $40 billion? Well, you know where I stand on this. Until the donut hole in Medicare Part D is closed, and our roads and bridges are shored up, and our schools perform at a level with Europe and Japan and Canada, then not a penny more for war.
Afghanistan is a failed state. An Islamic shit hole of a nation. The Brits understood this in the 19th century and the former USSR also learned this in 1979.
Yet, the USA, flushed with arrogance, thinks we can transform Afghanistan into a stable, democratic nation who embraces the west and western values.
It’s not possible, folks. Wake up!!!
Afghanistan no more represents a security threat to the U.S. than did Iraq.
The fact of the matter is, whatever al Qaeda presence there is in the region isn’t in Afghanistan — it’s in the northwestern portion of Pakistan.
But the U.S. cannot and will not invade Pakistan because the Paks have nuclear weapons and would surely fire on India in response. This would bring China into the fray, making for a nuclear battle royale in the region.
There is simply no justification or rationalization for asking the taxpayers to hand over $40 billion dollars to the Pentagon for 40,000 more troops.
The Pentagon is functioning more and more like a shadow government and without any accountability to the American public.
Hell no!
I find it so interesting that when it comes to passing healthcare reform, the Republicans wring their hands and stomp their feet, screaming “it’s too costly and we can’t afford it.”
But I bet every GOP lawmaker in the Congress would vote to squander $40 billion to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
Why is it we never listen to the people whose country it is?
Afghans’ ‘Bravest Woman’ Calls on U.S. to Leave
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=101178
Malalai Joya, called the “bravest woman in Afghanistan,” is finishing up a U.S. tour where she has pressed the Obama administration to pull the military out of her country. She says nothing could be worse for women than what she sees as the current civil war.
I know this is sort of ‘off-topic’ but what happened to Pickles Bush and her commitment to the women of Afghanistan?
Now that she and the Chimp are back in Dallas, the plight of these women no longer appear on her radar screen.
I guess the Afghan women were to Pickles what “Just Say No” was to Mommy Reagan. A big PR stunt.
Woodcliffe! Who knew you were such a cynic?
Of course the issue of the Afghan women was a PR for Pickles to use to get facetime and good press.
If Karzai needs security, why can’t he pay for it with the profits from his country’s poppy crop?
Last I read, Afghanistan is still the world’s number one producer of poppies used for heroin. In fact, he should hire Blackwater. I’m sure they would love a contract like this.
Obama should have all our troops and all the mercenaries out of Iraq before he even talks about putting more troops in Afghanistan.
more money down the military industrial cess pool
billions for war to kill people overseas – NOT a nickel for health care of americans who are dying by the thousands due to no access.
again – we let it happen. we think all this is one big John Wayne movie. i hate John Wayne