Iraq Costs Accelerating Just as Dems Come to Power (1 Viewer)

[blackadder]

A Staggering New Bill For Iraq?
Jessica Holzer and Matthew Swibel 11.09.06, 6:00 AM ET

The U.S. armed services have requested a $160 billion supplemental appropriation to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the remainder of fiscal year 2007--a staggering amount that, if approved by the Defense Department, may hasten the showdown between resurgent congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over the budget-busting War on Terror.

The request--which will likely include all costs related to the war on terrorism--far surpasses the $94 billion supplemental authorized earlier this year to fund the ongoing wars as well as hurricane recovery in the Gulf and is nearly double the $82 billion Iraq war supplemental outlay of 2005. It comes within days of Republicans' stunning losses in the midterm elections and the resignation of embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was set to decide on the request Nov. 15.

President Bush said Wednesday that he would nominate as Rumsfeld's replacement Robert Gates, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency under the presidency of his father, George H.W. Bush.

While House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has vowed not to undercut the troops in the field, defense experts said that she and other Democratic leaders probably hadn't anticipated the massive request.

"I'm not sure they've grasped the potential size of this forthcoming supplemental request. We'll just have to see whether they can choke down that amount of dough," said Tom Donnelly, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/08/ir...-cx_jh_1109iraq.html?partner=daily_newsletter

So this will be the second supplemental appropriation this year and the totals on the supplementals alone surpasses $200 billion -- in just one fiscal year.

Demonstrates once again that in the grand scheme the funding needed to address levee upgrades and coastal restoration in Louisiana are peanuts by comparison. Just a matter of priorities, which do not exist...

 

[threexcharm]

Category five protection levees.

That is the latest Corps of Engineers myth.

Based on the wall of water that Katrina pushed into all of lower south east Louisiana, do you think mounds of dirt would have kept that volume of water out??

I am not convinced.

If that storm comes in a little further east.....the Mississippi River levees will look like the worlds largest waterfall.

We get another strong hurricane, we will flood again.

Just my gut feeling. I hope I am wrong or don't live to witness it.

Joe

 

[LSSpam]

Anyone have any idea why there was such a drastic increase? I have a hard time believing the Armed Forces are playing politics, why'd the tab go up so much?

 

[blackadder]

Category five protection levees.

That is the latest Corps of Engineers myth.

Based on the wall of water that Katrina pushed into all of lower south east Louisiana, do you think mounds of dirt would have kept that volume of water out??

I am not convinced.

If that storm comes in a little further east.....the Mississippi River levees will look like the worlds largest waterfall.

We get another strong hurricane, we will flood again.

Just my gut feeling. I hope I am wrong or don't live to witness it.

Joe

The idea is if the coastline is restored and pushed out to where it used to be, there is a buffer for the storm surge.

Water pushed back against the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain is another issue, would still require some hefty levees.