Bush pulls the plug on Iraq reconstruction

[fushigi]

Quote by: Keith Hamburger But, of course, Lebanon only stabilized after the US and Israel left. As long as we were there it was a hotbed of terrorism and unrest. Once we were gone they got a stable government and got control of the dissension in the country. Keith

With the "help" of tens of thousands of Syrian troops. Doubt - hope, even - that would be unacceptable to any U.S. president.

[oranged]

Reconstruction would just mean troops staying in Iraq longer, and causing more death, destruction, chaos, and anguish.

[Clarence]

Quote by: oranged Reconstruction would just mean troops staying in Iraq longer, and causing more death, destruction, chaos, and anguish.

I think the thread was about reconstruction money. We should be germanating thier shattered economy with money. That was the plan anyhow. I'm scratching my head on this. Man, they're gonna really hate the U.S now. I think when the Iraqi's find out about this, we'll have even fewer supporters left amongst them. This will put our soldiers in even greater peril.

[fushigi]

All the carnage with half the payoff. I remember Tamim Ansary, an Afghani-American author, coming to my school for a discussion on the changes happening in Afghanistan after occupation. He said a joke was floating around the Middle East among intellectuals, it went like this:

Q: "How can we increase foreign development assistance by ten times in one year?"
A: "Attack the U.S., then rake in the reconstruction money."

Maybe some Bush official overheard that one, got pissed off and got ahold of his budget-writing buddy...

[figure8]

Quote by: fushigi Q: "How can we increase foreign development assistance by ten times in one year?" A: "Attack the U.S., then rake in the reconstruction money."

There was actually a 1959 Peter Sellers film called "The Mouse That Roared" about a fictional European principality which declared war on the US and sent a tiny invasion force (armed with longbows!) to New York, hoping to lose the war and claim American aid so as to increase foreign investment in their country!

The old jokes are the best, eh?

[Osborn F Enready]

figure8 said:
There was actually a 1959 Peter Sellers film called "The Mouse That Roared" about a fictional European principality which declared war on the US and sent a tiny invasion force (armed with longbows!) to New York, hoping to lose the war and claim American aid so as to increase foreign investment in their country!

The old jokes are the best, eh?

I say:
Damn, I gotta go see if I can rent that.....

[brien]

Quote by: Clarence Shouldn't we at least restore their power first? If we pull back without trying our hardest to do what our Pres promised to do, The 'terrorists' will follow us home. Not that the decision to do what is right should be based on fear of terrorism. It should be based on values and integrity. What's this really about? Is it an effort to trim down the budget or what?

Oh, I am not saying that we should disengage from around the entire world without first doing everything we can do to restore that which we have damaged by our unjust military occupations.

In this matter, if Congress feels that the US should continue aid to Iraq after GWB has pulled the plug, they can vote to do so, and even over ride a veto. So, in the long run, where GWB can be blamed for this debacle, Congress is not completely without recourse to step in and fix that which GWB has abandoned. Therefore, if we are going to blame GWB, let us see what Congress does to step up to the plate and correct what he has damaged in his Administration.

As far as the budget, it needs a big knife.

[brien]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready figure8 said: There was actually a 1959 Peter Sellers film called "The Mouse That Roared" about a fictional European principality which declared war on the US and sent a tiny invasion force (armed with longbows!) to New York, hoping to lose the war and claim American aid so as to increase foreign investment in their country! The old jokes are the best, eh? I say: Damn, I gotta go see if I can rent that.....

You can read the book also.

[lili462]

I'm glad we aren't rebuilding it.yes, i know it is horrible that our president declared an unjust war on them and blew their land to smitherenes. But one thing i've never been able to grasp is why do we go blow up a country and then rebuild it? It just makes no sense to me, if we are going to rebuild then why blow them up in the first place. Another reason i'm glad is because i dont see any hope for iraq, it will always be a terror reigned country no matter what anyone does...so if we do rebuild it will all just go to waste and be destroyed..so i figure... why waste our money on them when we can use it here in our homeland for something more important. Like instead of rebuilding a far away country..how about we rebuild New Orleans, Build new schools, Build better shelters for all of americas homeless and hungry. When it comes to our budget america should be our Number 1 priority, not another country.

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: lili462 ...why do we go blow up a country and then rebuild it? ...

Don't use the word "we" unless you really identify with those who do such things. The proper term is "they."

As for why: Can you follow a money trail? Do you understand that the Federal government of the USA is largely about fraud and the extraction of money from uninformed citizens? There were enormous sums embezzled in Iraq. Even larger amounts went to friends of those at the top of the political heap. Those "friends" fund political campaigns and dispense favors to the politicians. http://www.politicalgateway.com/main...d.html?col=259

It's not difficult to understand, lili. You just need to tune up your cynicism...

[Osborn F Enready]

Thanks Brien, I think I might read it instead.

Haven't used a library in I don't know how long...... maybe this will force them to put me on the watch list.......

[brien]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready Thanks Brien, I think I might read it instead. Haven't used a library in I don't know how long...... maybe this will force them to put me on the watch list.......

Yeah, the books are always sooooooo much better.

[brien]

Quote by: lili462 I'm glad we aren't rebuilding it.yes, i know it is horrible that our president declared an unjust war on them and blew their land to smitherenes. But one thing i've never been able to grasp is why do we go blow up a country and then rebuild it? It just makes no sense to me, if we are going to rebuild then why blow them up in the first place. Another reason i'm glad is because i dont see any hope for iraq, it will always be a terror reigned country no matter what anyone does...so if we do rebuild it will all just go to waste and be destroyed..so i figure... why waste our money on them when we can use it here in our homeland for something more important. Like instead of rebuilding a far away country..how about we rebuild New Orleans, Build new schools, Build better shelters for all of americas homeless and hungry. When it comes to our budget america should be our Number 1 priority, not another country.

Thank you lilli. You are the first poster around here that is beginning to see the light of why our nation is going broke, if we are not broke already. We are no more the world's Chef and Physician, than we are the world's Policeman or Engineer.

We waste our time, our money, and our youth in propagating meaningless wars around the globe that have no positive results for the US. Now if we invaded Iraq, took it over, occupied the land, and took control of the oil fields for our own profit, I could at least see the purpose of the war there. But we don't do this. Nor should we do this. We do things half assed and then wonder what went wrong.

We also waste our money by giving it away like a drunken sailor on payday, only to wake up with the mother of all hangovers. We don't need the UN or NATO. The UN should be relocated to Geneva.

The United States and its domestic shambles require immediate and drastic attention. Who the hell gives a rat's rear end if Saddam is killing and torturing his people, when we have all of the problems too numnerous to mention here in the US to deal with now. I surely don't. GWB is so stupid he traded places with Saddam as the bad guy in Iraq. He had a singular opportunity, like any other president in the US, to actually lead the US down a road of domestic prosperity and he blew it. BIG TIME.

When we have our own house in order we can lead by example and not by force.

[bishop]

heh, not to diminish lili's comments (which i agree with), but he/she is HARDLY the first person here to make such comments.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready figure8 said: There was actually a 1959 Peter Sellers film called "The Mouse That Roared" about a fictional European principality which declared war on the US and sent a tiny invasion force (armed with longbows!) to New York, hoping to lose the war and claim American aid so as to increase foreign investment in their country! The old jokes are the best, eh? I say: Damn, I gotta go see if I can rent that.....

It's a book too. You may have an easier time finding that.

Edit: Didn't see the other post.

[RickSp]

It is sadly funny to look back at what the Bush cabal said before the war. It was clear that they planned on invading the country and looting the oil to pay for expenses. Didn't work out that way, of course.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz: “There’s a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people…and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years…We’re dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.” [Source: House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on a Supplemental War Regulation, 3/27/03] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “I don't believe that the United States has the responsibility for reconstruction, in a sense…[Reconstruction] funds can come from those various sources I mentioned: frozen assets, oil revenues and a variety of other things, including the Oil for Food, which has a very substantial number of billions of dollars in it. [Source: Senate Appropriations Hearing, 3/27/03] Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: “Well, the reconstruction costs remain a very -- an issue for the future. And Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, is a rather wealthy country. Iraq has tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi people. And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction.” [Source: White House Press Briefing, 2/18/03]

Iraqi Oil Will Pay For This

[PatrickHenry]

Well, it didn't work out, Rick.

But that's OK 'cause the Feds will just charge it and have the taxpayers foot the bill for the next twenty years...

[Ghumanto]

Quote by: tivodan1116 step 1) Using suspect intelligence, declare war on Iraq to divert attention from the fact that the government has done fuck all to reduce the likelihood of terrorist attack after 9/11 step 2) Invade, and depose the government in power. step 3) Turns out the intelligence was wrong, so the original motive for going is shot. Figure something else out - Making Iraq a democracy, nation building. step 4) Holy shit, who would have thought nation building was this expensive or tough? geez. Stop spending money on it. step 5) Terrorists continue to destablize the now-weakened Iraq until it becomes like Lebanon. How can anyone not see that this guy is a complete idiot? I mean i've been giving him the benefit of the doubt for a while, but this is ridiculous.

I guess this is what the actual plan for war and aftermath. The ultimate goal is to destabilize the region and the goal is achieved. This fire in Iraq will crawl over to Iran that will give more strength to Israel . The Iranians will be #1 enemy of Arabs and Israel can play without challenge.
The US is fighting a war which is not their's.

[Apeman81]

Quote by: Matt W http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...676911,00.html How is this anything but another betrayl of the Iraqi people?? :rolleyes:

Let me get this straight. We promised 18.4 Billion to dedicate to reconstruction of Iraq, and we're paying up. This is a Betrayal?

Are we to pay the entire bill for reconstruction? After all, the U.S. was not alone in this effort of regime change. Iraq is not a pauper state. What of their oil?

[lili462]

Quote by: bishop heh, not to diminish lili's comments (which i agree with), but he/she is HARDLY the first person here to make such comments.

i am a she, and i could imagine i'm not the first to make that statement.