Money to Burn

First, there was the loss of nearly $9 billion in Iraqi funds:

U.S. LOSES $9 BILLION IN IRAQ SOMEWHERE

AP:

“The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to government ministries, which lacked financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, an inspector general has found. The U.S. officials relied on Iraqi audit agencies to account for the funds but those offices were not even functioning when the funds were transferred between October 2003 and June 2004, according to an audit by a special U.S. inspector general...

"...Some of the transferred funds may have paid "ghost" employees, the inspector general found. CPA staff learned that 8,206 guards were on the payroll at one ministry, but only 602 could be accounted for, the report said. At another ministry, U.S. officials found 1,417 guards on the payroll but could only confirm 642.

"I think this shows that Iraqis are learning American ways of business. Just ask Halliburton.”

Then there was the loss of more than 190,000 weapons:

US loses track of 190,000 weapons in Iraq
Tim Reid in Washington

“More than 190,000 AK-47 rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005 are missing, raising fears that US and British troops are fighting an enemy armed with American weapons.

"According to a damning report issued by the US Congress’s investigative office, the Pentagon has lost track of 110,000 rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armor and 115,000 helmets.

"The report, by the non-political Government Accountability Office, said that from June 2004 to September 2005 US officials in Iraq reported issuing 355,000 weapons to local security forces and are now unable to account for more than half of them.

"The number of missing weapons produced by the audit is far higher than previously suspected. Last year a similar report estimated that about 14,000 US weapons were unaccounted for.”

Now comes the news that the United States is helping the insurgents to finance the purchase of more guns and weapons to be used to kill American troops in Iraq:

By Hannah Allam
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Monday, August 27, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq — (Excerpts)

“Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.

"The payments, in return for the insurgents' allowing supplies to move and construction work to begin, have taken place since the earliest projects in 2003, according to Iraqi contractors, politicians and interpreters involved with reconstruction efforts.

"Each contracted company is responsible for providing security for the project.

"Providing that security is the source of the extortion, Iraqi contractors say.

"A U.S. company with a reconstruction contract hires an Iraqi subcontractor to haul supplies along insurgent-ridden roads.

"The Iraqi contractor sets his price at up to four times the going rate, because he'll be forced to give 50 percent or more to gun-toting insurgents who demand cash payments in exchange for safe passage.

"One Iraqi official said the arrangement makes sense for insurgents. By granting safe passage to a truck loaded with $10,000 in goods, they receive a "protection fee" that can buy more weapons and vehicles. Sometimes, the insurgents take the goods, too.

"As of July, the U.S. government had completed 3,300 projects in Anbar with a total value of $363 million, the U.S. embassy said. Another 250 projects with a total price tag of $353 million are under way.

"One Iraqi contractor who is working on an American-funded rebuilding project in the provincial capital of Ramadi said he faced two choices when he wanted to bring in a crane, heavy machinery and workers from Baghdad: either hire a private security company to escort the supplies for up to $6,000 a truck, or pay off locals with insurgent connections.

"He chose the latter and got $120,000 for a U.S. contract he estimates to be worth no more than $20,000.”

And there you have it - your tax dollars at work in Iraq to help insurgents obtain the weapons they use in killing and maiming our troops.

UPDATE (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2007):

Updated: 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush is preparing to ask Congress for as much as $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a White House official.

The request signals increasing White House confidence that it can fend off mounting congressional pressure to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the Post reported.

The additional funds would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Post said.

Finding a Cognomen

It was a practice in the past to ascribe a descriptive cognomen to important rulers or leaders. Here are a few of the distinctive nicknames given to them:

Alexander the Great

Attila the Hun

Peter the Great

Leo the Wise

Richard the Lion-Hearted

If it were still the practice to ascribe a descriptive cognomen to an important person or leader, what distinctive nickname would you attach to the name of George W. Bush?

Here is a start: George the Lyin’-Hearted

Letter to a Right-Wing Conservative

I wrote this post almost 18 months ago in response to an attack by a right-wing conservative who was opposed to the opinions I posted in regard to Iraq. I think it is worthwhile to look at those views in retrospect these several months later.

Hello Mr. Right-wing Conservative:

Thank you for your comments on my blog post regarding the war in Iraq. I am happy that you found it thought-provoking.

First of all, as a war veteran myself, let me thank you for your brave service in Vietnam; and I am pleased that you returned with "most of your sanity and all of {your) parts." You were so much more fortunate than the other 58,000 who died and the 153,000 who were wounded in that unfortunate conflict.

That said, let me say I am shocked by the hubris you displayed in lecturing me about the contents of my blog, as well as the personal attacks on my competency to project my opinions on Iraq. Please be advised that I have the educational background and experience to offer an opinion on that topic, and I have followed developments there since 1991. I am sure that you have also arrived at your worldview as a result of your life experiences. I respect that and will not disrespect your opinions, although I may vehemently disagree with them.

Let me start by dissecting your comments point by point. You assert that as the world's lone superpower, the United States has a "great deal of responsibility to the rest of the world." I agree. Then you state that we also have a responsibility in ecology, global warming and other issues. So far we are in full agreement. But in our decision to drill for oil in the Alaska Wilderness Reserve and in our failure to join in the Kyoto Protocol, I think we have failed in this area.

Your next contention is that we were chosen by DEFAULT to be the world police. I disagree. We were chosen to be the world police by the Bush administration. Please note that President Bush failed to go back to the UN for authorization to invade Iraq. In fact, our entry into that war was OPPOSED by most of the major industrial nations of the world.

Your next point is that we are in Iraq because it is our duty to bring some order to the world. Again, I disagree. I think the United Nations was established in 1945 for that purpose, and that under that charter no single nation can take on that responsibility.

Your next assertion is that we were right to invade Iraq because of its inhumanity to its own citizens. I disagree, again. Using your reasoning, the United States should also invade China, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba. The list goes on and on, and I believe a nation with five percent of the world's population has neither the resources nor the will to carry your argument to its final conclusion.

Your next point gets closer to the real reason we are in Iraq: OIL. You are willing to trade the blood of our sons and daughters for OIL.Certainly, I can agree that the United States needs sources of energy for growth, but so far our government, because it is under the control of the OIL moguls and the corporations that produce motorized vehicles, has not seen fit to explore other sources of energy or to promote conservation. Look at those monstrous vehicles that get 7-10 miles per gallon of gas.

Your final argument states that the people of Iraq can now make choices they couldn't make before the invasion. Partly true, but since when is it the responsibility of the United States, if not directly attacked, to invade a sovereign nation and fight for those citizens’ rights. You said that you are a Vietnam veteran. I have spoken with veterans of that war who said that at the same time young American men were fighting and dying in Vietnam, many of the young South Vietnamese men of the same age, unwilling to fight for their own freedom, went about their daily lives as though the war didn‘t exist. I will sanction our children and grandchildren opposing any foreign power that directly endangers our freedoms, but I will not spill their blood to get and maintain the freedom of people in other sovereign nations that have not directly attacked us.

I do not believe that we can establish a democracy in Iraq because of the history of that nation, and how it resulted from the British "pasting" together a volatile mix of Sunnies, Shiites, and Kurds after World War I. I truly hope that I live to see a democratic Iraq and that I am proved wrong. But if it happens, it will be a great surprise to me.

Ultimately,whether the United States withdraws its troops this year or ten years from now, I believe a civil war will surely follow to sort out the situation. And wouldn't it be ironic if the Shiites were to become the powerbrokers in Iraq and become closely allied with their Shiite brothers in Iran which is currently, we believe, seeking nuclear weapons (weapons of mass destruction)?

As to judging a person according to their placement on a political spectrum, I disapprove, mainly because I know that I am a liberal in some areas and a conservative in others.

As to the number of American battle deaths in Iraq to date, it is not 1,000, as you stated, but over 2300. The number of personnel returning with mental trauma and missing eyes, arms, and legs is over 16,000. And these numbers do not include the estimated 30,000-100,000 Iraqis who have died in the war.

I don't expect you to agree with me in regard to my views on Iraq, and that I can accept. By the way, I love this country with all of my heart and soul, and I would not want to live in a socialist country such as Sweden. But the United States is already a welfare state. The problem is that it is a welfare state for corporate America and the wealthiest class of Americans, with the federal government awarding $840 billion in tax cuts to the top one percent of Americans, while cutting programs that aid the poorest class.

Thank you again, Mr.Right-wing Conservative, for your comments. I shall look forward to future dialogues with you.

An Inspiring Leader

“I have seen a man of far-sighted courage put America on a war footing to protect us against a brutal enemy in a dangerous conflict ….Through it all… remained the same man. “… integrity, character and decency have remained unchanged and inspiring.”

Which American president is being described:

1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
4. Theodore Roosevelt
6. Franklin D. Roosevelt
7. John F. Kennedy
8. Richard M. Nixon
9. Ronald Reagan
10. George W. Bush

For the answer, see the first comment in the comment section for this post.

Young Love Remembered

The first time Jack saw her he was smitten. From the beginning, he thought Jill was the most beautiful creature in the world. And when he discovered her personality, he knew she was the girl for him.

Jack was only 15 and Jill 14 when they met. Each of them was the first love for the other. Their love was a very innocent one in which they spent time together going to the beach, to the park, to the mall, and to the movies. They discovered that they had so many common interests, and so much of their time together was spent in idle chatter, laughter, and bantering.

One day, when they were strolling through a local mall, Jack said to Jill, “Right now, if you were a little older, I think I would ask you to marry me.” Jill recorded this in her diary and then wrote, “I think I love him.” They lived several miles apart, but every day after school Jack rode his bike to Jill’s house to be with her. They spent three happy years dating in this fashion.

Being one year older than Jill, Jack graduated high school before she did. The night he graduated, he wrote in her yearbook, “I hope you remember me in 20 years.”

At age 18, Jack had to move with his parents to a city several hundred miles away. They had other plans for him, including attending medical school and becoming a doctor. Although they missed each other terribly, Jack and Jill decided after some time that a long-distance relationship between them was not something either of them wanted. So each of them went on with their separate lives - getting an education, a career, and ultimately, new relationships.

Jack was married for 15 years in a relationship that produced four children, and Jill was in a marriage that lasted two years and resulted in one child. Both marriages, however, ended in divorce.

Last Christmas, Jack had driven down to this area to visit some friends and, wondering what had happened to Jill over the years, decided to stop at her parent’s house to find out. When Jill’s mother appeared at the door, Jack greeted her and then asked how Jill was doing. The mother said, “Why don’t you ask her? She is here visiting us right now.”

After sitting and talking for some time, the two of them decided to get reacquainted. Jack told Jill that he had never forgotten her and the young love that they had shared. They resumed their relationship and after several months, and 22 years of being apart, with five children between them, they were married in June of this year.

After the ceremony Jill said, “Jack and I feel very blessed in so many ways. I never dreamed that I would be back with my first love. Being with him is like finding an old pair of jeans in the back of your closet that you put on again and they fit in just the right places.”

This story was inspired by an article that I found in a local newspaper. The names have been changed, and some embellishments have been made to the story; but all of the essential facts have been retained.