A $165 Million Outrage (our forces in Iraq for about 10 hours!)

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

A $165 Million Outrage (posted with permission from http://saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=155 )

"How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat," said an angry President Obama about AIG's bonuses. The U.S. news media is all over this AIG story and Americans are upset by it.

But $165 million wouldn't even pay for a half day of the Iraq war, and this cost too is paid by the U.S. taxpayer. However the U.S. news media is silent about it so there is little outrage for a war that has cost a trillion dollars. And by the hour, more money is flooding out the door.

A trillion dollars is over $3,000 for every single American. In a family of four, that would be $12,000. And for what? Iraq is a U.S. military occupation, run as a prison lockdown.

The Iraqi economy, like the nation, is in ruins. Over a million people have been killed, countless more have been severely injured and large numbers of children have been orphaned. This includes Americans and American allies as well.

Candidate Obama spoke of ending the war in 16 months. President Obama intends to keep it going for at least 21/2 more years, until the December 31, 2011 deadline negotiated by President Bush. 148,000 U.S. soldiers are there now and in the months to come, when there are some troop draw downs, many will be photographed going home before they are then shipped off to Afghanistan. As for a reduction in forces, there is no mention of the 180,000 U.S. mercenaries in Iraq.

America is in a futile search for peace while waging war, as if more weapons, violence and threats can ever bring us security. We're so desperate and fearful, our economy is collapsing yet we are borrowing heavily to continue the fight in Iraq, as we plant the bitter seeds for future warfare.

Yet most Americans are upset about AIG, silent about Iraq. Please don't be among them for your voice matters. Speak-up in the name of humanity and for sanity to end a war that can bring nothing but more heartache and financial and moral bankruptcy.

Yes, AIG's $165 billion in bonuses is outrageous. But I for one would pay them many times that amount if they would do as Mr. Obama will not, end the Iraq war.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

1. But $165 million wouldn't even pay for a half day of the Iraq war...

...and this cost too is paid by the U.S. taxpayer. However the U.S. news media is silent about it so there is little outrage for a war that has cost a trillion dollars. And by the hour, more money is flooding out the door.

[The Straight Story]

2. question about that figure, does it include pay for troops?

If so, wouldn't we be paying them anyway if they were not at war?

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

3. I think the author feels that we would not need such a large military..

if we were not engaged in wars all over the planet. Also, I think troop pay might only amount to about 10% of the costs of the iraq war.