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TechnoratiIn Jurassic Park, the favorite line of the theme park's mastermind is, "Spared no expense."
But, of course, he did.
He staffed it with a skeletal crew. He gave barely a nod to the catastrophic potential of cloning dinosaurs.
I don't know about you, but that movie reminds me of what's happened in Iraq. "Spared no expense."
But, of course, we did.
For many months, U.S. personnel pleaded for body armor and for vehicles that would give them a chance against road-side bombs.
The thing is, Donald Rumsfeld didn't have to give his trademark poverty-case plea, "You have to go to war with the Army you have."
This military engagement -- America's second costliest in real dollars -- has had scant cost controls. And why should it? It's been waged off-budget, and essentially on credit.
It's only when people return from battle that we become sticklers for decimal points.
Such is the case in Congress right now with debate over veterans benefits contained in a supplemental bill to fund what we're doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Too expensive? Ahem
President Bush has threatened to use his rarely flexed veto pen against this measure if it contains a bipartisan expansion of the GI Bill of Rights and other veterans benefits.
Bush says the benefits package shouldn't be tied to supplemental military funding. And he says it costs too much: $51 billion over 10 years. That sounds expensive, yes. That is, if you stand it up beside the Tyrannosaurus that is the supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan: $195 billion for not even one whole budget year.
By contrast we're talking about $2 billion a year for veterans who have laid it on the line for what's adding up as a $2 trillion enterprise.
The bipartisan "New G.I. Bill" legislation authored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., would nearly double current benefits for college, tying them to cost of living and in-state tuition rates.
It also would end a $1,200 buy-in enrollment fee under current GI Bill.
Sen. John McCain has sided with the president in opposing it. Although he supports increasing education aid, McCain says this is too expensive.
But an interesting wrinkle is that much of the debate is about time, not money. Principally, the Webb bill would grant full benefits after three years in service. The Pentagon, with McCain agreeing, says it doesn't want full benefits to kick in until six years of service.
The Pentagon said that setting it at three years would result in personnel leaving at that point. Proponents, including a coalition of service organizations, say any attrition would be offset by recruits drawn by the new benefits.
If the original GI Bill required a six-year military commitment for full benefits, this nation never would have seen the benefits that produced so many college graduates who populated the "greatest generation." They went to war in 1941. They came home in 1945.
Not only did they reap great benefits from the GI Bill, so did the nation. In a strictly fiduciary sense, for dollars returned, it was possibly the best-spent wad of money in America's history. So, excuse some groups such as the American Legion for choosing not to place a new GI Bill in the "expense" category. They see it as an investment.
For those who insist on calling it a cost, American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser says this: "War is expensive indeed and the bulk of that is paid for by the men and women who bear the uniform. Benefits are just a small, small cost of war."
Costofwar.com estimates that the United States spends $341.4 million per day in Iraq. We'll spend more there this week there than the New GI Bill would cost us in a year.
Costs? The man from the American Legion has a point. It's the men and women in uniform, and the Iraqis, who have borne the cost of this horror. We've been on a theme-park ride.
--John Young
Copyright 2008 Waco Tribune-Herald
11 Comments so far
Show Allpnac, could you post the source of your first quote? Was it "Rebuilding America's Defenses"? And to tie in with the Bio-Rad info, remember what Aaron Russo said about his conversation with Nick Rockefeller:"the people have to be ruled" by an elite and that one of the tools of such power was population reduction, that there were "too many people in the world," and world population numbers should be reduced by at least half.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/290107rockefellergoal.h...
Add to all that the recent massive losses of life in China, Myanmar, Africa, etc. ... Oh wait, some of those were natural disaster right? Look into the HAARP project and scalar weapons. It's all coming together now. American lemmings better start paying attention pretty quick 'cause the cliff is coming up on us fast!
And at the same time, we are paying the purveyors of mercenaries US$100,000-200,000 per annum for the same services we skimp on for "public soldiers." If soldiers are worth so much on the open market, why not pay them the market rate instead of the cut-rate, cheapo pay we offer now? Why not offer reasonable death benefits, so that soldier's families don't have to go on welfare to survive? We gave millions to the civilian victims of 9/11, why not pay the real market rate for death?
This is just another example of how our leaders take for granted the service of these young men and women, and neglect to take care of them upon their return. I have written a five-part blog series, "Who's Supporting Our Troops?" where I have shared multiple interviews with two young Iraq War veterans. They have told me stories of contractor abuse, medical neglect, and refusal/incompetence of VA medical services in response to cases of traumatic brain injury and PTSD. The blog series has been posted in installments, with a new one going up each day this week: www.progressivefuture.org/blog.
josephmorton May 14th, 2008 2:30 pm
Opponents of the war should not be supporting thiws nonsense of rewarding psychopaths. These characters joined the military knowing that the Bushites were not going to give them anything, and they should be content not to get anything. I am opposed to increased health care, so called educational benefits or any other perks for these monsters that are killing innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. I am in favor of abolishing the entire military, but since that is not going to happen in the world of American sheep citizens, we must not spend more money to attract more of the scum that join the military.
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You josephmorton have nary a child, have never seen the color scheme that makes up the military, are deluded in believing these kids join for fun, call these kids that are lying in graves, in Walter Reed, 18 suicides/daily, redeployed 3 and 4 and 5 times, because they are ordered to they are soldiers they obey orders. They are victims of predatory recruitment practice with offers of money and jobs, these centers are in impoverished areas where these kids no longer see a way out. thay have been duped. I am sure the parents whose children have been murdered appreciate your cowardly name calling. Majority of Veterans come home and become advocates for ending all wars. You are subhuman and lack humanity in any form, you should be forced to put boots-to-ground and see through these 19 year old girls and boys eyes, the horror and disgust they feel for themselves.
Try to view some Winter Soldier testimony, I and II. See the mental condition of these kids.
You are a sham and a shame on your 5th grade level of use of the English language in showing such misplaced hatred that honor belongs to the Executive branch.
Despicable thing you are, indeed an ammoral waste of air.
Found this in my notes:
Riconosciuto would make additional claims about Bio-Rad corporation (http://www.bio-rad.com ) medical supplier which had gradually taken over Hercules, California. They were also, Riconosciuto would say, covertly engaged in bio-warfare research - producing some of the deadliest toxins known to man. The focus of Bio-Rad's research was said to be bio-active elements that could be tailored to attack those with certain types of DNA. Weapons could thus be produced that were specifically designed to wipe out specific races or genetic classes of human beings. (Alternatively, particular DNA types could be immunized against a deadly biological agent; the agent could then be released, and everyone else would die.)
From the Project For a New American Century:
Project Participants:
I.Lewis Libby (Dechert Price & Rhoads)
Paul Wolfowitz (Nitze School Of Advanced International Studies)
"And advanced forms of biological warfare that can "target" specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a political useful tool."
"Future soldiers may operate in encapsulated, climate-controlled, powered
fighting suits, laced with sensors, and boasting chameleon-like "active camouflage. "Skin-patch" pharmaceuticals help regulate fears, focus concentration and enhance endurance and strength."
Every soldier should read this. This is what your leaders think of you and you wonder why they screw you over when you come home from serving you country. They view you less than the weapons of war. There
is no profit to be made in soldiering. You are like a roll of toilet paper, to be used, abused, and flushed. They will "Skin-patch" you into little Rambo's and fry you brain and destroy your body and they don't care.
josephmorton:
Have you visited a college campus recently? So many students are frickin' little Dubya Cheney neocon wannabes, and Mom and Dad (and maybe the state) are paying their way so they don't have to go to war. They cheer on the soldiers when they leave but don't want to see the blood and guts. They are the future users and our soldiers are their victims, almost as much as they are Dubya's victims.
Most people join the military with a sense of patriotism, and very few are psychopaths. Its our duty as a society to use our heroes for heroic purposes, not this BS Iraq war. Don't blame the soldiers. They just picked a really, really bad time to express their patriotism.
I'm told marine recruitment is way up. What are they promising now? Seven virgins?
Hopefully this screwing by Uncle Sam will get the message across to our volunteer soldiers loud and clear. The US doesn't give a fuck about you or your families and will do everything within its power to rescind on any of the promises it made that got you to volunteer in the first place. If anyone out there still believes that our government is anything other than deception and duplicity, please please please sign up to die in another country BEFORE you reproduce.
shame on you, josephmorton.
Opponents of the war should not be supporting thiws nonsense of rewarding psychopaths. These characters joined the military knowing that the Bushites were not going to give them anything, and they should be content not to get anything. I am opposed to increased health care, so called educational benefits or any other perks for these monsters that are killing innocent people by the hundreds of thousands. I am in favor of abolishing the entire military, but since that is not going to happen in the world of American sheep citizens, we must not spend more money to attract more of the scum that join the military.
A three-year hitch is more than enough time to merit the full benefits. This is typical of American conservatives -- they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.