Anyone Know What Weighs 363 Tons?

[The Whiskey Priest]

The $12 billion we flew into Iraq.

12-23-03 One single flight to Iraq delivered $1.5 billion. The largest single Federal Reserve payout in history.

As of 1-26-06:
The US has spent $226 billion on the Iraq war
The CPA was funded $38 billion by US and Iraq funds, and spent $19.7 billion of UN-administered Iraqi oil money.

A Few Bucks Pissed Off:
$108,140 paid to contractor to refurbish Olympic swimming pool in Hilla. Work never done
$662,800paid to repair Hilla hospital. Much of work never done, including renewing central lift. Three people later died when lift crashed
$40,000 gambled away by US soldier assigned as assistant to Iraqi Olympic boxing team on trip to Philippines
$2 million locked in a the bathroom safe of a US official
$678,000 stashed away in an unlocked foot locker
$473,000 paid for internet installation in Ramadi. Work never done


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2010424,00.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Oh lord

[boobooday]

2. Imagine how much might be in the sofa cushions

In Bremer's old office . . .

Blatant theft.

[wakeme2008]

3. IMHO, there will be a couple very rich

troops coming back from Iraq.

In every war a small number of soldiers figure out how to beat the system. But in this war the money is flowing too to freely.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. My wallet....given the amount of change I have amassed lately...

More than the lighter-weight folding money....

I think shitloads of that missing money ended up in the hands of various officials or whoever the hell was able to cash in on gummint largesse.

[stillcool]

5. Spectacular....misuse of money....

..a country awash with dollars and a Wild West atmosphere where even multimillion-dollar contracts were paid for in cash." ...Guess you had to be there...

[leveymg]

6. Instead of Iran, Can Bush Bomb New Orleans Next?

Or better, cut out the middlemen, just dump money.:evilgrin:

[The Whiskey Priest]

13. Wonder if they would consider one house......

I could use a reconstruction effort.....maybe a bil or two

[Canuckistanian]

7. They spent the Oil-for-food money?

$19.7 billion? And how much did Kofi Annan's son get again?

[FreedomAngel82]

19. And they were up in arms about

how "dirty" the UN is and here they are spending that same money!

[Blue_Tires]

8. our tax dollars at work

being ripped off by the ton....and over here, i can't even find a job!

[pinto]

9. Yep, and Allawi wears Armani....... Great article - more here:

Their headline is a good one

How US lost billions in Wild West gamble to rebuild Iraq

From Tim Reid in Washington



AN AUDIT of US reconstruction spending in Iraq has uncovered spectacular misuse of tens of millions of dollars in cash, including bundles of money stashed in filing cabinets, a US soldier who gambled away thousands and stacks of newly minted notes distributed without receipts.
The audit, released yesterday by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, describes a country in the months after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein awash with dollars, and a Wild West atmosphere where even multimillion-dollar contracts were paid for in cash.



The findings come after a report last year by the inspector general which stated that nearly $9 billion (£5 billion) of Iraq’s oil revenue disbursed by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which governed Iraq until mid-2004, cannot be accounted for.

The huge sums in cash were paid out with little or no supervision, and often without any paperwork, yesterday’s audit found. The report found problems with nearly 2,000 contracts worth $88.1 million.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2010424,00.html

[Just Me]

10. DIS-GUST-ING!!! People are hungry!!! People are dying!!!

Shit!!!

Shit shit shit shit shit! :grr:

:cry:

EW!!! :grr:

[FSogol]

11. Wonder how much of this money paid for GOP campaigns? n/t

[hootinholler]

12. I thought you were talking about the explosives warehouse looting:

The controversy erupted Monday morning when the New York Times reported that 380 tons of high explosives -- mainly HMX and RDX, which can be easily used by terrorists, even to detonate a nuclear device -- had disappeared from the al-Qaqaa arms dump 30 miles south of Baghdad.

It's twue! It's Twue! But not 363 tons.

-Hoot

[stevedeshazer]

14. Thom Hartmann said that such a big pile of cash could be seen from space!

We could have used it to shore up the New Orleans levee systen.

[FreedomAngel82]

15. And imagine what we could be doing with

this money if we didn't spend this on this "war." :( We could be improving our economy and our education program and so much more.

[Fovea]

20. Heck

we could stuff it up Norquist's ass until he exploded.

Just a thought.

[FreedomAngel82]

16. And none of this is included in the deficit is it?

[Rex]

17. Say goodbye to that money folks.

We shall NEVER see it again...a drop in the 2 TRILLION dollars spent in the hole formerly known as Iraq (soon to be a parking lot for Iran).

[Straight Shooter]

18. I thought the answer was the amount of BS that Gonzales spewed today.

But to tell the truth, it seemed a lot more than 363 tons.

[progressoid]

21. Sweet Jesus, that's depressing.

You know that's just the tip of the iceberg.

[ClayZ]

22. The war is costing $100,000 per minute.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002780385_spending03.html



Iraq war is costing $100,000 per minute
By Mark Mazzetti and Joel Havemann

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that it plans to ask Congress for an additional $70 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving the cost of military operations in the two countries to $120 billion this year, the highest ever.

Most of the new money would pay for the war in Iraq, which has cost an estimated $250 billion since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.

The additional spending, along with other war funding the Bush administration will seek separately in its regular budget next week, would push the price tag for combat and nation-building since Sept. 11, 2001, to nearly a half-trillion dollars, approaching the inflation-adjusted cost of the 13-year Vietnam War.

snip>

Critics point out that the costs of the war, which enters its fourth year next month, have grown more predictable and say that the money should be requested in the regular budget rather than as supplemental funding.

snip>

[flordehinojos]

23. the weight of the bushes three (poppy/jebbie/junior)$ their lies .

[Blue_Tires]

24. ttt n/t