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See the original image at news.yahoo.com —

Iraq costs US $12B per month

news.yahoo.com — The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

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  • trghpy, on 03/11/2008, -10/+67So ... if all of this was over oil... Why haven't we looted the oil already???
    I'm sick of war.
    • tzisc, on 03/11/2008, -8/+70we have looted the oil. you're just not part of the we.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KBR_%28company%29#Act ...
    • purpmint008, on 03/11/2008, -11/+30The reason we haven't got the oil is because a separate group of insurgents keep blowing up the vulnerable pipelines and the troops are stretched out too thinly to do anything significant about it. Also, don't expect the price of oil to go down even if Iraqi oil production goes back to even pre-war levels. The American people were never meant to benefit (they were meant to economically suffer), multinational corporations that use the American army like a tool were the only ones meant to benefit significantly.
      Only 1% (retards) of the Iraqis think we're there to spread democracy, the rest of them say that we're there for the oil (authentic poll). 80% of the troops and 80% of the Iraqis wanted us out within an year in 2006.
      55% of the Iraqis (in both main religious sects) think that they are justified to attack American troops.
      You can almost say that the Iraqis have a right to blow up the pipelines to prevent the corporations from looting them.
      When we went into Iraq, we introduced orders to privatize the oil, privatize major public businesses, and even expressively authorize 100% foreign ownership as legal. Iraq is a corporate party and you are not invited.
      • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -2/+15Iraq's post-war oil-production surpassed its pre-war production last year, actually.
        • RepubOperative, on 03/11/2008, -13/+6Shhhh...don't tell the liberals. They are day dreaming about their socialist conspiracies and you shouldn't wake tzisc, or purpmint008 up.
        • sporg, on 03/11/2008, -1/+8It seems you are right adeelshahid.

          http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7144774.stm

          Which means alot of US troops must be busy guarding pipelines instead of "spreading democracy" whatever that means.

    • Onetrack, on 03/11/2008, -4/+14What should be done is a total fuel consumption of all the vehicles the us has in iraq. A normal hummer drinks as much fuel in a day as a honda civic drinks in a month - now add 12 mil plate glass, armor and 5-6 soldiers all heavily geared.. now multiply that by how many hummers are in iraq.. 1000 ? 5000 ? at least.. plus all the other things there slurping fuel - Ambrams tanks, apcs, helis, etc.. all that gas is coming from USA reserves and the iraq pipeline - they're not only pissing away 12 billion a month but all that wasted energy could run a city for a year I'd bet.
    • pintomp3, on 03/11/2008, -0/+10the war was not so much about oil. it's real goal was the agenda of PNAC/AIPAC and the profits of the military industrial complex and private contractors.
    • sporg, on 03/11/2008, -2/+12And they told us the super collider was to expensive.

      Yes I am still pissed off about that.

      • Groovemaster, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5What they meant was that the military-industrial complex can't make tremendous profits from the supercollider.

        The USA is now nothing more than a giant corporate war machine.
    • ckhw2, on 03/11/2008, -1/+10It wasn't all the oil companies. The Israel lobby also put in its fair amount of pro-war pressure. Why do you think Iran was the next target?... despite that they (indirectly) helped the US overthrow Saddam. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/showdown/v ...
    • potisreallygood, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1310-Mar-2008 8 | US: 8 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Diyala Province Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Diyala Province Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Diyala Province Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
      US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
    • rpgmaker, on 03/11/2008, -2/+12"When a war is this profitable you don't want it to end..."
    • diggingaround, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Meh...anyway that money was printed by "Fed"... you know the little private paper press corporation known as "Fed"... it is worthless mountain of paper anyway, since its value is backed only by the air you breathe...
      • gameforge, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2The Fed prints money? You mean the government sells treasury bonds and bills directly to fund the war, which must be repaid, bypassing the Fed entirely, don't you Ron Paul the 1,152,018th? (relax, I support him too. ;) )

        The Fed is jumping through its ass, dropping rates like an anchor trying to cope with the government's abuse of its instruments (treasury bills and bonds are supposed to be used to control inflation; the Fed uses them for this - it's chump change compared to what the government uses them for).

        Ron Paul finds all central banking systems to be the antichrist, so when you fart, he blames it on the Fed.

        Those bills and bonds are suppose to be used to control inflation and debt by the Fed, and they're part of most modern central banking systems - so Ron Paul, for whatever reason, erroneously claims that the Fed is printing the money... really, nobody's "printing" it (just like your bank doesn't print you money for your loan, even figuratively speaking), and it's not the Fed doing the loaning either - for whatever reason, he's chosen this odd way to dumb down the whole process; it just isn't quite right. That money comes straight from the treasury, and the Fed has nothing to do with it.

        As for air-backed dollars, money should be created when you do $12 of work for $10, and it should be destroyed when you do $8 of work for $10. Read: The work you do is what should back your money. This is why having a ***** of money go through your economy, whether it's real gold or just someone else's debt, develops countries so quickly - the bridge you build or the computer you program doesn't explode when your currency falls out.

        The point isn't whether your dollars are valuable or not, it's that fiat currencies allow countries to develop rapidly. Gold can't be created or destroyed like our fiat currency can, making our fiat currency far more versatile if we choose to use it correctly.

        Try to see why it's worked as long as it has, and put it all into perspective before you go casting stones at central banking and the dollar.
    • phazon88, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2Obviously not over oil. It would have been far far cheaper to just buy all their oil.
    • robbinzo, on 03/11/2008, -0/+7Greg Pallast has investigated this and found that the plan was not to steal the oil but to reduce Iraq's production. By reducing the supply, the price goes up. Saddam Hussein was pissing off opec because he was producing too much oil & driving down the price. It's about artificial scarcity and maintaining a monopoly.
      • yellowcakewalk, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2I like Greg Palast for the most part, but he completely ignores the Israel Lobby in the march to war. Yes, it was about oil and war profiteering, but it was also about Israel and GP should own up to that part. BTW reducing the POPULATION of Iraq was one of the major goals that both the Clinton WH and Chimp WH succeeded admirably in addressing.
  • roadnottaken, on 03/11/2008, -6/+115They could have built how many schools, fixed up how many others, paid how many teachers, and educated how many kids - here and in Iraq - with that money?

    It's sickening.
    • carpespasm, on 03/11/2008, -18/+5well they couldn't have really educated too many kids in iraq since Saddam wouldn't have probably been too keen on that, but I get the point.
    • kinseyincanada, on 03/11/2008, -3/+20well the war isnt directly funded by tax payers, the majority of it comes from borrowed money and just printing it hence the diminishing dollar. Think of it like a credit card.
      • condor5, on 03/11/2008, -8/+1Its so that you can have your rights to say that the government is bunk. For you to be in the greatest country in the world
      • rotundo, on 03/11/2008, -0/+9I suppose you're trying to draw a subtle distinction, but it's important people realize that the war is 100% funded by tax payers. It's just that we don't pay it today and we may pay through things like inflation instead of transparent things like tax hikes.
      • blackmage439, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Must be that new Capital One card Congress is freely handing out. Too bad George can't conscript an army of War Kittens to fight for him...
    • subterfuge, on 03/11/2008, -7/+3if we ejaculated money to iraq for education, i would be just as unhappy as i am now, because there is still inequality among schools in america, and that money comes from americans, not iraqis
    • LukasSmith, on 03/11/2008, -10/+1144 billion a year is nothing. Why you democrats crying? No point pouring money into US schools. Educational material is made available by Schools. Not motivation. Frankly I see little motivation in our schools. I blame the parents or the students themselves. But no this Is America. Everyone else is to blame. Im sure all democrats would be surprised to know 144 billion is probably a tiny amount of the money the government wastes at home. Not that you should feel so high and mighty. As someone who gets a check every month I can say I waste about 2/4 of my paycheck on things I don't really need. Welcome to America. Using the world's wealth aka credit loans to party. YEAH. Rock onnnn. Should I repay them? nah.
      • bjornski, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Blaming a lot of other people, and showing us your marvelous math skills. (2/4 of your paycheck?)

        You never cease to amaze me with your posts.
      • nonymous666, on 03/11/2008, -1/+32/4. 1/2.

        Potato. Potawto.
        • bjornski, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2Or in Lukas's world, potatoe.

          /Quayle joke for those of you of Lukas's age or younger. The last time a moron Bush was in office.
    • ritter99, on 03/11/2008, -1/+6USA could have build infrastructure, public baths, free food, free water, schools, hospitals, amusement parks in IRAQ and they would think america is GOD and do everything they can to praise and worship and submit to america. instead it's ... well ... bloody war.
    • LukasSmith, on 03/11/2008, -6/+1Umm yeah because America was sooo going to give Saddam 144 billion dollars to fix Iraq. Hello America remember Saddam? Hes only been dead for a while. How short is your freaking memory? 4 years from now they will say Bush? Bush who? ***** no wonder nobody learns from the past. Or on the other side of the coin we could have attacked Pakistan and probably lost ten times that much money. Face it even if you offered a terrorist 144 billion dollars they probably wouldn't give up Osama. They arent interested in western money. Only western destruction.
  • EllieElliott, on 03/11/2008, -9/+99I hate George Bush
    • peestandingup, on 03/11/2008, -1/+17Me too. I never thought I could hate someone this much that I've never met, but he's literally ruined the country (US) & Iraq.
      • subterfuge, on 03/11/2008, -3/+4i wouldnt say he's ruined the country, although he has ruined america's credit rating with his imperialistic wars
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -15/+12I hate people that are so naive to believe that Bush was single-handedly responsible for the war. There were military intel, security advisers, and Congress that authorized funding among many things. I hate ignorant people.
      • munen123, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4i hate people like you who voted for george wimpy bush...
        • cowsgonemadd3, on 03/11/2008, -6/+1Wouldn't you consider him brave being most of the country does not like his decision yet he still does it?
          • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Foolish != Brave. However, nothing he has done has been foolish, all of it has been quite shrewd and unbelievably profitable. For him..and his cronies.
          • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2No. We shouldn't have gone to war simply because Moslems were doing crazy ***** and talking crazy.
        • nonymous666, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Twice.
      • TheWorm, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2If you think Bush wasn't largely responsible for the war then you are the naive one.
    • MasterThief117, on 03/11/2008, -1/+6I hate Dick Cheney AND Bush.
    • LukasSmith, on 03/11/2008, -8/+3$144 billion a year? pff. thats freaking nothing. Man with all the numbers this liberal media has been spouting off for years and this is all we spend a year? ahahahah. Man. See all the democrats I know say we should have gone after Osama otherwise known as gone to war with Pakistan. This would have cost 4 or more times more lives and sure as heck would have been more expensive then 144 billion. I say lets thanks Bush and Iraq for a cheaper but still effective platform to fight terrorists.
      • licnyc, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4$144 billion a year is nothing??? what do you live in cartoon world? What that really means is every person who pays taxes in the US is spending about 1,000 a year to not fight terrorist, but to keep sunni and shia from killing each other in some other country that had nothing to do with terrorist to begin with. I don't even care about the money, what really matters is people we lost do to total incompetence of our leadership. Its criminal.
      • carcar314, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1this platform to fight terrorism has just multiplied them by ten and crashed the American economy as well as give the world even more reason to hate America as if they needed any more reasons. America is officially the trashiest country on the planet, the people are completely survalenced and nearing slavery, and Americans are weaker than ever against terrorism and tyranny. Not exactly the home of the brave if you ask me and I can't seem to find people that disagree here in Texas.
    • afterlife23, on 03/11/2008, -0/+0hate is such a strong word, but more and more ppl are straight out starting to say they hate the bush administration
    • carcar314, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1He is just saying that more people are doing this to the american tax payer than just bush. When he's gone it will continue. It's the whole government acting as a front for the raping of america. They didn't go in to steal oil, they went into Iraq to tap the endless flow of tax dollars from our pockets.
  • jlhoben, on 03/11/2008, -4/+73Is this what conservatism is about: massive social spending is not allowed unless its for the military industrial complex?
    • Mardala, on 03/11/2008, -2/+17bingo. welcome to the Republican version of Conservatism.
      • nick111, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9Well... to be fair, all conservatism. The morality underpinning conservatism channels money and resources away from the population at large to the already wealthy.

        If resources and money go to the benefit of the people... thats not conservatism. That's liberalism. That's socialism. And it works better than conservatism.

        Trouble is, Americans have been indoctrinated into thinking that totalitarianism and socialism is the same thing, and that one leads to the other... ignoring (or simply being ignorant of) all the places in the world where people get a better deal than America... You know... the liberal socialist countries.
        • Mardala, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5Its funny because if you described some of the top places to live in the world, most of them are socialist leaning countries. They have higher taxes, but they also take care of their people, like affordable or free education, affordable or free health care, good infrastructure. That all comes at a significant cost but their is a ROI. The countries with the worst rating are run by a wealthy elite with little or no over site on the corporations. This, unfortunately is where the US is headed.
    • tweak567, on 03/11/2008, -3/+8Your missing the point. There is no massive social spending unless there is massive financial gain for those involved. I mean wheres the profit in better educating people. That might help balance the distribution of wealth and/or cause more people to realize whats going and we definitely can't have that...
      • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -1/+3I was just thinking about this yesterday. While you definitely want a 100% literate society (which is easier to propagandize), you don't want them getting *too* smart or they'll start to ask questions. When enough people ask enough questions, suspicions are aroused, and the rulers start getting uncomfortable.
        So, the trick is to educate everyone *just enough*. That's pretty much what the public school system accomplishes. Colleges these days are rarely better, handing out pieces of paper in exchange for money regardless of the quality of education. The educators are trying to do their best with both hands tied behind their backs and "No Child Left Behind" just assures that, in order to keep receiving funding, schools must shovel bad students through to the next grade. It's all very, very ominous.
    • pintomp3, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4they only concentrate on the social part of conservatism: homophobia, xenophobia, religious fervor, reduction of women's rights, etc.
    • shotogo, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1I'm a conservative, do not consider myself a republican anymore though, and this make me sick as well. Please don't lump all conservatives together. Are dems all the same?
  • rzxc, on 03/11/2008, -7/+63And after spending all that money, you still hear Iraqis say that life was better under Saddam Hussein, who was probably the worst human being alive. What does that make us?
    • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -3/+26saddam was a horrible dictator but atleast he held the country together. keeping a country full of kurds shiites and sunnis together is a feat, as we are now finding out.
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -12/+7MOST Iraqis prefer the US over Saddam. I was there.
      • pintomp3, on 03/11/2008, -1/+11MOST Iraqis prefer Saddam over the US. I am there.
        (you aren't the only one who can make unfounded claims)
      • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -0/+10I'm sure they'll tell you they like you when you're standing infront of them with a M4A1 in their face. Trust me, iraqi's would prefer to have a country with stability rather than the hot mess they're in now. oh and the close to 1 million dead iraqis probably have a differing viewpoint.
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5You think that someone who lives in constant fear of being kidnapped by sectarian gangs and tortured to death (not to mention mortar fire, stray rounds, car bombs, etc.) has been freed from "oppression?" If you can't leave your house for weeks at a time because roving gangs will drill holes in your knees if they catch you, you are pretty ***** oppressed.
        • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2It's starting to be like that here. Just not as organized.
      • arplayer2k, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4You are wrong. Any sane Iraqi preferred Saddam over US. US ***** them worse than Saddam did, with no end in sight.
      • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2I was outside Ramadi spring-fall '07 with HM-246 Marine exp. unit from MCAS Futenma, Okinawa.

        And you're right, unfortunately there's no way to prove that I was there. Less than 1% of America's population are in the military; chances are, there are some on Digg.
      • kyouteki, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1I work with Iraqis in Baghdad and Kirkuk daily, and the sentiment is always the same - things were better before the war.
    • oRlyFOOL, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4Do you speak with a lot of Iraqis rzxc?
    • Drax0n, on 03/11/2008, -0/+8saddam wasn't that bad compared to other dictators or terrorist groups aroudn the world.. the only thing that made him a target was all the oil he was sitting on.
      • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4Ditto. No one seems to really care what's happening in Darfor... but there isn't any oil or anything else worth fighting for there is there?
    • Hangly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Saddam's crimes are, not surprisingly, greatly exaggerated.
    • prleet, on 03/11/2008, -0/+0I still find it ironic that the crimes committed by Saddam was ever a issue. Thanks to your freedom of ***** up speech(aka the news media), dugg me down but who the ***** gives a ***** anymore...we are screwed and the iraqis are screwed..awesome! Bueno!
  • tzisc, on 03/11/2008, -2/+11guess i'm gonna need to start saving up on 3-dollar bills
  • Terrasquiggle, on 03/11/2008, -37/+35You know what? ***** the troops. I'm sick of the media playing them up like saints when they're just government sanctioned killers.
    • Picaroon, on 03/11/2008, -21/+26You know what? ***** you. That's pretty damn ignorant.
    • purpmint008, on 03/11/2008, -12/+23"Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy." -- Henry Kissinger, former Sec. of State of the U.S., wanted for war crimes, etc.
      Why are people stupid enough to join a military, any military?
      All these troops are doing is serving the purposes of the imperial corporate masters of the world...
      • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -3/+22alot of people are recruited in low-income areas, as it is the only way for many of them to make an honest living, or pay for school. in some places people are threatened to be charged with a crime unless they sign up for the military.
        • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4Would you like to supply the names of the areas where people are coerced into joining the military? I was a member and I joined voluntarily and never served with anyone who would have gone to jail unless they signed up. I'm really interested in where you got that info.
        • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -4/+4Yup, you're right. The bulk of the military troops on the ground are from very low income areas, mainly in the southeast. Find any ***** small town in Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and you'll find a Fort within 60 miles and a recruiter's office on the corner.
          Not to mention the illegal immigrant members of the corps. It's disgusting the policy of "if you survive you get citizenship". Operation Brown Shield, indeed.
          • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4Not quite true, read this article and then lets talk about how the military "comes from areas slightly more affluent than the norm", not from very low income levels. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/ ...
            BTW the military does not allow illegal immigrants into the military, you have to be a legal immigrant, but don't let those little facts slow you down. And I love how you think all illegal immigrants are brown, nice stereotyping.
        • Groovemaster, on 03/11/2008, -3/+3Killing innocent people in order to make rich people richer is not what I'd call an honest living.
          • Snuff99, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4How long have people made a living this way? Since the beginning, why do you believe it will change now? Why do you believe that you and your generation are "more intelligent" than hundreds and thousands of generations before you. Humans are animals, we kill, not necessarily for survival but for resources, land and sometimes just because. We are no different than those before us. Get over yourselves.
      • rockinjoe, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3They join the military so you have the freedom to sit your fat ass at your computer all day and talk ***** about them.
        • zachblume, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2If no one in the whole world joined military they could sit around on their fat asses too
    • kinseyincanada, on 03/11/2008, -7/+24They didnt choose to start this war at all, dont bash the troops bash the ***** people who sent them there.
      • JasonMaloney101, on 03/11/2008, -4/+6The administration who sent them there ought to be thrown off a cliff.
      • maanwi, on 03/11/2008, -4/+6They did, however, choose to participate. Even if a soldier is "just following orders", there will be a psychic and/or karmic price to pay for acts of violence. Become a conscientious objector, lay down your arms, end war forever.
        • Snuff99, on 03/11/2008, -3/+3What a freakin tree-hugger. This "ending war forever" is utter ***** and you HAVE to know that. Do you seriously think that it possible...seriously. War has been fought from the BEGINNING OF MAN-*****-KIND! Ever since the first cave man through a rock and killed his enemy, we have fought. That's the way it WAS, IS, and WILL BE for a very long time.

          What's that knock at the door? IT'S REALITY, why don't you get that, been standing out there a long time.
          • neognostic, on 03/11/2008, -1/+3I would like to hope that we can evolve and not kill each other forever. Repeating the same mistake over and over is not an excuse.
          • maanwi, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2Snuff99, I guess you've never heard of Buddhism.
      • maisteri, on 03/11/2008, -3/+4Bet those same people didn't order them to throw puppies over cliffs.
        • allan17, on 03/11/2008, -2/+3Yeah, because ALL soldiers throw puppies over cliffs. *****.
    • quetzalcoatl1, on 03/11/2008, -10/+12“Anyone dumb enough to wanna be in the military… should be allowed in…. it should be the only requirement” - Bill Hicks
      • rockinjoe, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3a.) Bill Hicks is dead....
        b.) You might change your mind if you had some crazy Muslim try to shove a missile up your ass.
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -5/+8World War II veterans statewide applaud at your comment. You are so naive to believe that servicemen somehow choose which conflicts they get to participate in.
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2The issue is whether one should chose to serve in the first place. Most WWII vets did not.
      • pirloui, on 03/11/2008, -2/+3This is totally different from WWII.
    • Snuff99, on 03/11/2008, -10/+12To hell with you. I mean really go to hell. How *****' ignorant can you be to believe that in the time that we live in, at the stage that mankind has reached that you and your family could possibly live in ANY country without an armed force to protect you. You sir are an idiot.

      God bless those who would risk it all for me to be free!
      • IAmDavid, on 03/11/2008, -4/+7Maybe we should be asking how we have reached this current stage? Why do people hate us? Oh, that's right. We don't care about our history prior to 2001 and what our government has done to other countries via the CIA since its founding.
        • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -5/+3Jesus, stop generalizing every citizen by using "we" and speak for yourself for once. I care about US history prior to 2001, and I don't agree that most people worldwide hate America. Our flawed government, perhaps, but why the American people?
      • insanebrain, on 03/11/2008, -4/+2free ?? What do you call freedom if even killing yourself is illegal. Do me a favor. . go break the law.
      • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -2/+5...right, but the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have nothing to do with your freedom or defending our country from its enemies.
    • PabloMac, on 03/11/2008, -8/+5Knock on my front door and spout off like that again.
      • sporg, on 03/11/2008, -6/+8Its hard to sound tough with an apple logo as your icon. LOL.

        • PabloMac, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3My other logo is an eagle, globe and anchor.
    • erhanaltay, on 03/11/2008, -5/+12This comment is 100% correct. There is no Draft in the USA currently. That means EVERY single member of the USA Armed Forces made the concious decision to invade a peaceful country and murder its population. No soldier in the US military deserves an once of sympathy. This was not the case during the Vietnam War, when there was a draft. In that case, the soldiers were just as much victims as the innocent Vietnamese. But in 2008, every US soldier should be tried as a war criminal -- "I was just following orders" is not an acceptable defense.
      • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -4/+4"But in 2008, every US soldier should be tried as a war criminal -- "I was just following orders" is not an acceptable defense."

        I was going to make up a long response about your lack of deductive reasoning, but then I realized.

        You are not a liberal for opposing the war.

        You are not really against the War in Iraq.

        You are not really peace-loving.

        No; you are just a naive kid who still believes that there's nothing in the world to fight for. Grow up.
    • sporg, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4Economic draft.
    • NuclearDruid, on 03/11/2008, -10/+6Isolationism ***** sucks. You guys should be absolutely ashamed for thinking that it's only worthy to be in the military DURING A DRAFT. Without people joining the military, you have no protection, without protection, you are *****. Go ahead and bury me. I lost a friend last week in a helicopter crash while in Iraq helping train the Iraqi army, who also did humanitarian aid, who served in the MILITARY. You know what? ***** YOU, we entered the war for the wrong reasons, but we helped take down a dictator, correcting the mistakes we made in the past, helping rebuild an oppressed nation. But the outcomes is money out of our own pockets for the benefit of the Iraqi nation, too ***** bad if it discomforts us, we have to be willing to sacrifice. I am going to be in the Pararescue Indoctrination course next year, you know what they do? Yeah, ***** me too, because you won't educate yourself on what most of the military does now. All you base your opinions off are online videos, when the majority aren't bad, it's just the bad ones that make the front page.
    • pixelguru, on 03/11/2008, -3/+1I pity our troops. They're being raped, but their sense of "duty" and "honor" keeps most of them from crying out for help. If only they would march into Washington and set things right.
  • purpmint008, on 03/11/2008, -17/+11The reason we haven't got the oil is because a separate group of insurgents keep blowing up the vulnerable pipelines and the troops are stretched out too thinly to do anything significant about it. Also, don't expect the price of oil to go down even if Iraqi oil production goes back to even pre-war levels. The American people were never meant to benefit (they were meant to economically suffer), multinational corporations that use the American army like a tool were the only ones meant to benefit significantly.
    Only 1% (retards) of the Iraqis think we're there to spread democracy, the rest of them say that we're there for the oil (authentic poll). 80% of the troops and 80% of the Iraqis wanted us out within an year in 2006. Most of the Iraqis say that they were better under Saddam.
    55% of the Iraqis (in both main religious sects) think that they are justified to attack American troops.
    You can almost say that the Iraqis have a right to blow up the pipelines to prevent the corporations from looting them.
    When we went into Iraq, we introduced orders to privatize (the administration's favorite word) the oil, privatize major public businesses, and even expressively authorize 100% foreign ownership of business. It's called exploitation. Iraq is a corporate party and you are not invited.
    • insanebrain, on 03/11/2008, -1/+3The reason why you haven't got the oil is because . . .IT IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE . .. ***** !
      • purpmint008, on 03/22/2008, -0/+1I agree with you. It's not our oil.
    • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5Great, I read this the first time, about halfway up the page.
  • siszam, on 03/11/2008, -5/+50But anytime you talk about health care Republicans scream, "Not with MY money!" They don't have a problem funding murder but they are happy about Americans suffering and dieing from lack of care. The Republican party is all about death.
    • Picaroon, on 03/11/2008, -18/+6Except for abortions. I think the democrats have a monopoly three. But I guess you'll say that doesn't count as "death," right?
    • Ell3, on 03/11/2008, -25/+5That's because your liberal Socialist programs have no ROI. You've dumped about $7 Trillion dollars into America's "Great Society" programs, what do you have to show for it? Consistently giving people handouts does not help them. If you can't see that by now, you're blind.
      • Dumbledorito, on 03/11/2008, -0/+20What's been the ROI on Iraq so far?
      • munen123, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9really Ell3 your a MORON what did any of us get out of iraq? nothin, but higher gas prices and national debt that you and your kids and their kids will be paying for...
      • MadKennyP, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Fewer people dying of starvation in the streets of America, for one.
    • XTX7X, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5So let me get this straight.
      Ammunitions companies striking it rich = ROI.
      $3 Gas for Saudi investors = ROI.
      Saving lives = LOI.
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -6/+1Military operations is the federal government's Constutional business; providing health care is not. That's the difference.
    • ashleegirl, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4Not if it's health care for Afghanistan or Iraq. Look at the first picture and tell me it doesn't want to make you puke
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care
      • ashleegirl, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2sorry I was puking and seem to have gotten my words a bit jumbled
  • iAlex, on 03/11/2008, -18/+7Everyone who voted for this war and funded it should be held responsible. That includes Barack Obama who has voted to fund the Iraq War.
    • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+14
      Why are facts and Cons like oil and water?

      the senate did not vote for war, it voted for authorization for war, if proof was found, and if all other options were gone.

      that's not quite how it happened, was it?

      and 'believing' that saddam had weapons isn't even close to invading and killing untold thousands, or are you such a bush lover that you don't see that?

      oh, and no matter what the russians and the french may have given iraq, can you admit what WE gave them? can you say, chemical and biological weapons, hand delivered by rummy?

      or are you in denial, because facts don't coincide with bush's rewriting of history....
      • kufu91, on 03/11/2008, -2/+3normally i would digg you up but i just can't accept giving the senate a free ride anymore. they should be held accountable for not only allowing the war but by using a loophole to do it.
        • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Unending warfare, state-sanctioned torture, spying on American citizens, corruption, sexual perversion, countless Republican lies and scandals, etc., etc.

          A little heterosexual scandal between adults is nothing compared to this wave of pure evil.
    • shortysmyname, on 03/11/2008, -1/+7Of course he voted to fund the war. Now that the troops are there, he's not going to abandon them. And either is any of the other candidates for that matter.
      • Groovemaster, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1That's right. America waits till their troops arrive back home... THEN they abandon them.
  • shaka776, on 03/11/2008, -8/+20Still cheaper than Comcast...
    • Sithseth, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1too soon... i didn't digg you down tho.
  • sundancekid503, on 03/11/2008, -6/+20$12B per month is really excessive. That's why I decided to get an Xbox live membership instead.
  • Ell3, on 03/11/2008, -27/+2Odd how American liberals complain about the cost of the Iraq war, but they never seem to complain about the cost of their "War on Poverty". American taxpayers have forked over about $7 Trillion dollars so far for the liberal Democrat's "Great Society" programs. What do they have to show for it?
    • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -2/+23Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. They were NEVER a threat to us. The hundreds of thousands we have killed had already been vicitmized for decades by the Ass Hat we'd put in charge of them, Mr. Saddam Hussein. He got the gas and clusterbombs he used to fill those mass graves from Reagan, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

      YOU, personally, are selling the United States down the river into abject slavery. You are making us pay HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS to force US Soldiers to kill and terrorize a group of people who were never a threat to us while _REAL TERRORISTS_ are at large. And this nation is more dangerous than ever before. Nice work, fvckhead!

      But, hey, keep telling yourself your own version of history and keep calling everyone that doesnt agree with you, a "Liberal", Corky. Because why would you want the truth? You can't handle the truth. Obviously.

      • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -6/+1Cut the trash-talk and answer the question; the very good question.
        • gjunkie, on 03/11/2008, -0/+10I would rather spend twice the $7 trillion on war on poverty rather than a single dollar towards senseless killing...
        • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4----------Cut the trash-talk and answer the question---------------

          You want to know the cost of the "War on Poverty"? Do a little research on that little money making criminal institution those nutballs created called the "Drug War"

          Maybe you will come up with something, Einstein
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -9/+1Germany never attacked us in WW II and it had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor, but we had to deal with them because we saw them as our enemies.
      • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4If Hitler could have he would have. Had England fallen USA would have been next. But there were war profiteers who certainly hoped USA would get in it.... namely the infamous prescott bush who was running arm with the Arabs, a fact recorded in the halls of congress. Where there is a bush, you can count on war which is also a fact.
    • shortysmyname, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9You would rather abandon the poor and disadvantaged? I think that's how third world countries operate. Have a little compassion, you never know when you may be on the receiving end of one of those programs.
    • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -5/+1I smell tuna! gross
    • loconet, on 03/11/2008, -2/+5You keep going with this. Is that your daddy told you?
    • shunterender, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2"What do they have to show for it?" Well, let's see, for starters...

      Social Welfare programs didn't kill 3,980 American troops, and countless tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, men women and children.
      The Great Society has helped to fund community centers, pre-K education, and countless teachers to raise impoverished people to a standard of living one would expect in the United States.

      All in all, I'd say helping people is generally better than killing them for oil. ::shrugs shoulders:: But what do I know, I'm a pinko-leftist-hippie.
  • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -3/+14I PAINTED A SCHOOL IN IRAQ TODAY

    No ones going to use it because the country is in the throes of ethnic cleansing, half the kids are dead and the police have been infiltrated with ***** death squads.

    But Its a nice pink color anyway
    • Sithseth, on 03/11/2008, -2/+5Well, I got up at 5 in the morning, and had to take the public bus to my classes, cause I cant afford a car!
      -yeah...
      • eyepower, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4dude, get a bike. and QYB
        • bjornski, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3If he's living in any area like I am, there's this thing called "snow" which can make biking rather impractical.
    • arplayer2k, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3U mean the shiite death squads that are revenging from the sunni death squads?
  • DeskFlyer, on 03/11/2008, -5/+6So does my Sprint PCS bill.
  • dildoolielly, on 03/11/2008, -5/+35A message to President Bush,

    Go ***** yourself. We should drag your ass to Iraq and throw you into a pit of oil and set it ablaze.
    • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -1/+9waterboarding is legal now, we should do it to bush and his cronies.
      • philipl411, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1can you think of something original to post. You bush haters are sheeple
  • taibofatty, on 03/11/2008, -16/+68This is why they hate us
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-lXgwG-74
    Soldiers blow up dog, find it funny
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a4b_1198349822
    soldiers blow up another dog, find it funny
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1be_1204379225&p=1
    Here is a bbc docu. where a soldier kills a dog, a longer version exist, shows the dogs owner coming out visibly upset, nothing he can do, he has a heavily armed invading army in his backyard.
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=wj32twJXxsY&
    Soldiers, tormenting a dog...
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fy_BSksdvAM
    Soldiers shoot another dog
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=54e_1182844511
    Soldiers throw grenade at sheepherder/sheep and find it funny
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=ULcj-Epr1rI&
    Soldier shoots yet another dog
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0a5ee2d6eb
    killing civilians in front of their children
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSTI3Ast45Q
    scaring an injured puppy repeatedly
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK2BTt9_YJk
    blowing up a kitten and cheering
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=64d_1199566522&p=1

    Splashing kids with a hummer
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=727_1204139441
    Shooting unarmed civilians then celebrating
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7b6_1204052769
    Teasing kids with water
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=11bf57cf1f
    Soldier talking about wanting to kill Iraqi children/families, he's out of his mind
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aea_1200639693
    Soldier messing up civilians house for fun
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8be_1204072976
    Soldier being a dick to Iraqi police
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e0b_1203423672
    Having kids chant "I love pork!"
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=43e_1201330416
    Soldier throwing a child off of a bridge
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1bf_1204382002

    Hitting civillian cars with humvee
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3af_1182746080
    Aftermath of what happens when "Hadji gets in our way"
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=729_1203044419
    Telling his gunner to shoot a civilian car, when the americans are driving down the wrong side of the road
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d14_1202573392
    Running over a car with tank
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e01_1202570709
    Cutting down Iraqi flag
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d82_1202354761
    Hitting civilian car with tank and driving off
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ec7_1202243617
    Baghdad gas station line
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b43_1201652728
    Missile hits wrong building...oops
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5c7_1201460610
    Soldier huffing compressed air
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=786_1198650948
    Crashing a civilian truck and cheering
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ff_1185425463
    Asking kids if they like poop
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f78_1183965702
    Causing another accident and cheering
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5bc_1180260213
    Calling a childs mom a whore among other things
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=23a_1184227403
    Cutting civilians gas cans at gas station due to a no gas can rule
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=20c17_4707
    Another apache missile hitting the wrong building
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4c1_1204552006

    discuss
    • potisreallygood, on 03/11/2008, -17/+11............................................________........................
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      • Sil369, on 03/11/2008, -12/+2I wanted an ORLY. :(
        I is disappointed.
    • Sil369, on 03/11/2008, -9/+1If u want to protest the military try and fit all of that into one protest sign. o_o
    • talonstriker, on 03/11/2008, -6/+14dude, you've already posted this several times... try putting it on a blog somewhere.
    • BinaryDelt, on 03/11/2008, -6/+14So I was right. Aside from officers (who I understand require a college degree), the rest of the military is filled with the guys who spent high school in detention. Bunch of ***** morons.
      • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -8/+4The only moron here is you for making generalizations and assumptions about the military, do a little research and find out that the average military member is better educated than the equivalent civilian. Unfortunately there are idiots in all areas of the population (including the military), normally these guys get weeded out in basic training, but a few still get through. I'd say that the percentage of civilians who act just as stupidly and inhumanely are probably greater; watched any Jackass movies lately? Or better yet surf you-tube and you'll see some things that make these links seem tame.
    • SirBrittanicus, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4Holy *****, that soldier huffing compressed air was hilarious.
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -9/+3taibofatty's comment is a grand non-sequitor. Neither the Iraqi population at large nor the Iraqi governing officials hate us. The jihadist terrorists hated us before any of the listed offenses occurred. Got any rational accusations?
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -5/+8I accuse the troops of being monumental ***** who have the most advanced weaponry money can buy and are still losing to a bunch of poorly armed, poorly trained ragheads.
    • Picaroon, on 03/11/2008, -10/+5If I had posted a list the same length of American troops helping people (which is FAR more common), I would have been labeled a Neo-con propagandist.

      You people are disgusting.
      • thomeff, on 03/11/2008, -2/+8Do it. Post it as a comment or write an article about it. We don't see much pro-military type posts so I'd like to see it. I'll make sure to digg you up.
        • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -5/+5Our dumb troops fail to do basic things like learn the local language and customs. As a result, they are unable to keep the peace and are regarded as hostile invaders by the vast majority of Iraqis. One would be hard pressed to devise an invasion strategy that leaves Iraqis LESS well off than they were under Saddam, but you have to give the troops some credit for managing to accomplish that herculean tast.
        • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -4/+3Petrodollar, did the military deny you entry? You have a lot of disdain for them and that can't be just because we're in Iraq. You do yourself a disservice with your uninformed tirade. The military is being taught local customs and dialects common to those regions, but shush...... we don't want the terrorists to know that we speak their language. And you may want to look at some newer polls, they show that the majority of Iraqis think life is better now than it was before (well everyone but the Baathist's, but they were the chosen ones prior to the war, so there would be some resentment there). So stop with the generalizations and insults, they're juvenile. And stop calling the troops dumb, that's asinine as the average military member is better educated than the equivalent civilian, and you'd know that if you'd done a little research before you posted this and all those other posts where you call the military dumb. Here's a link talking about the education of the military vs average citizens. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/ ...

          Let me know if the link doesn't work.
      • rotundo, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Yes, because it would be neocon propaganda. It doesn't matter how many nice things we do: we ***** their country up. If I come in and kill your family, then decorate your house, wouldn't you consider it propaganda to focus on the interior decorating?

        There was no good reason to go into Iraq. They had no ties to terrorism. Their genocide (which arguably we should have stopped) ended ages ago. They had no WMDs. They were not likely to go to war against anyone. Absolutely nothing positive can come from this war. So stop trying to make yourself feel better by pointing out that we are protecting people who DIDN'T NEED PROTECTION until we ***** up their country, or rebuilding infrastructure that DIDN"T NEED REPAIRS until we ***** up their contry.

        All the best.
    • arplayer2k, on 03/11/2008, -3/+2***** these pussies. Karma's a bitch.
    • vidar808, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2This is what happens during an ocupation where most of the the soldiers are sitting around with absolutely nothing to do.
    • philipl411, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1That was all after 911, whats your excuse for that event?
      • prleet, on 03/11/2008, -0/+0dont even state that all the reason for war is 911, get your head out of your ass then make a point...
        • philipl411, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Can you read or follow links? The guy posted linking claim these links were the reason they (mussies) hated us(US). all those links were post 911. Why did they hate us so much they caused 911?
  • yellowcakewalk, on 03/11/2008, -2/+24LMAO at all the Bush supporters that assumed he was pillaging the oil for THEIR benefit. Seen Exxon's profits lately? lol.
    • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -2/+7seriously, its despicable
    • Picaroon, on 03/11/2008, -8/+5Most people who aren't unwashed hippies have some share in the market through funds or their own investment.
      • Groovemaster, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Very wise... If someone's killing for profit, get on the bandwagon and cash in!

        You seem oddly proud to have precisely zero moral integrity. I'm sure the families of the innocents who have died to increase your bank balance would love to spend an hour or two with you, maybe to play some all-American baseball.
      • yellowcakewalk, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5It's comments like Picaroon's that makes me wish all the talk about heaven and hell were true. Because I'd relish the thought of morally bankrupt trolls like Picaroon going down there.
  • potisreallygood, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2That's mean Motari!
  • stackered, on 03/11/2008, -7/+15Yeah, yeah, yeah... we know. ***** Bush. Blah, blah, blah.... Now is someone going to ***** do something about it instead of just show us incomprehensible numbers?
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Shhhhh, don't let them know that all of world's problems cannot actually be solved simply by AWARENESS.
    • rotundo, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5I did all I can do in a democracy, pal: I told people what would happen, I argued against the war, I argued for better ways to reduce terrorism, I voted. I continue to do those things. There's nothing else I can do short of trying to overthrow the government, which I couldn't actually do anyways.

      The point of talking about it now is so that next time maybe a few more people will be smart about it. What's amazing is that the same people who got us into this mess are completely incapable of accepting what a ***** it is now. They're excited that the surge is working? Because why? Because we've killed over 100,000 people and spent over a trillion dollars? If the war ended in peace and stability tomorrow it would still be one of the biggest wastes of life and money that the US has pushed in a long time. Because Iraq was already a stable, non-terrorist state by middle east standards. It's certainly no better now.

      Get real. Please, please don't fall for it again.
      • n00854180t, on 03/11/2008, -0/+3Agreed. Even if you don't care about the untold thousands of innocent Iraqis, you might care about the US veterans that now have to crap into a bag or some other such ***** up *****. Even if you don't care about that though, you should *probably* care that the gov is both shaping the laws to allow them to arbitrarily put you into prison indefinitely, steal all your ***** and throw away the key. To further figuratively SKULL-***** the citizens of the USA, they're also using up $12B+ of your money every ***** month while doing it. Where does it go? ***** Haliburton and Blackwater, among tons of others. ***** that *****. It's a load of crap and any so-called American that doesn't oppose it doesn't even deserve to live in the country, and should be ashamed to call themselves a patriot.
    • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5prosecute bush co and put them in jail? YES! Priceless to see ole dick and the chimp behind bars.
  • LordSkywalker, on 03/11/2008, -2/+29Well, at least oil is cheaper now. What? 108 ***** dollars a barrel?!
    • Sithseth, on 03/11/2008, -1/+3Wait until Doctor Cox hears about this...
    • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -0/+8did u see the story yesterday about goldman sachs predicting 200$ per barrel in the near future. Oh and two days ago jon stewart played a clip of bush saying "he hadn't heard of the possibility of fuel reaching $4 per gallon"... when its already 3.79 where i live... some commander in chief
    • afterlife23, on 03/11/2008, -0/+0not only do they use war to steal iraqi oil but they use war as an excuse to increase prices at the pump
    • hpvforum, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1$109
  • screwthename, on 03/11/2008, -2/+3holycow america is rich
  • URnotheonly1, on 03/11/2008, -13/+2Hell we spend that on illegals each month, thats nothing. You people should really stop objecting to spreading democracy. Hell you have wasted decades on Tibet
    • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1"Hell we spend that on illegals each month,"
      link?
    • shunterender, on 03/11/2008, -1/+0It's okay, the ignorant are never able to back up statements with fact. Why would they let fact get in the way of a perfectly good opinion, right?
  • medledan, on 03/11/2008, -13/+5Then GET THE ***** OUT!!! NOW!!! The market has dropped ONE THOUSAND POINTS this week and STILL dropping. Jesus ***** christ i have a wife and 2 kids. What am i going to do when the get ***** by the american government and everything crashes. There going to have another civil war on there hands because i WILL SHOOT AND KILL everyone and everything that gets in my way when im protecting my family!!!! ***** THE GOVERMENT!!! BASTARDS!!!
    • Sithseth, on 03/11/2008, -2/+6Yeah, cause you know that a market that has continuously rose in the past 20 or so years, giving us all these wonderful new toys, like my Wii for example, will bring down our entire way of life with its recession... God dang it people, can you not fall right into the hands of the new media, please... Its so sad, it really is... I mean, how will you life be effected, I want to know, do you really know how your life will be effected?

      But really, if this is what triggers off your "revolution" switch in your head, I really want to know if you kids and wife are the main reason you are upset at the market falling, cause you'd think the current war, and lost of civil liberties would've already caused that stir inside of you.
      • medledan, on 03/11/2008, -4/+3Oh my dear friend i am very angry at the loss of my freedoms and the simple fact that the country is turning into a police state.
        • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2What freedoms have YOU lost, truly lost, not those hypothetical ones the media talks about? And what police state? If we were in a police state then all these murders of college co-eds wouldn't have occurred because they would have been home under curfew restrictions. Truly people, these scare tactics are ridiculous.
    • Jamihabs, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4Take a pill already!
      • bjornski, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Can't afford the prescription, and his HMO would probably deny him coverage anyway.
  • borez, on 03/11/2008, -2/+9$501,531,779,667 at the time of this comment.

    Money well spent?

  • CAPITALLETTERS, on 03/11/2008, -0/+20Think they could stop for 0.125 seconds so that I could buy a new computer?
    • talonstriker, on 03/11/2008, -4/+4I wouldn't mind a new alienware myself.
      • xlneoMAXlx, on 03/11/2008, -1/+5Alienware is *****. Build a custom PC you *****.
        • r1fl3m4n, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Alienware computers are NOT *****. But their price to performance ratio is *****.

          Learn to not be a "build it yourself" fanboy.
          • xlneoMAXlx, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1I'm sorry, what? Build it yourself fanboy? Excuse me for being intelligent.
  • JAG731, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5Really? $12B/month? Is that all? I know our government can do better than that. They're experts (at spending $ that is).
  • BinaryDelt, on 03/11/2008, -2/+20Now I understand why Obama doesn't where the American Flag lapel. It is false patriotism.

    We (America) are the biggest freaking joke in the world right now.
    • bjornski, on 03/11/2008, -0/+5Any scoundrel can wear a flag. In fact, many make a big deal about the fact that they're wearing one.
  • COINTELPRO, on 03/11/2008, -6/+7What do you think it cost the taxpayer with Saddam in power? I am pretty sure the military had to staff troop levels higher and buildup weapon systems for the possibility of going to war with Saddam. The taxpayer is paying billions of dollars now for 20,000+ troops on the border with North Korea for 50 years and the stockpiling of various weapons systems. The Cold War cost trillions of dollars and no bullet was fired in a war. Any threat to this country cost money, I think these articles about war cost don't show the total picture.
    • ad33lshahid, on 03/11/2008, -2/+8your argument seems well thought out until you realize that *gulp* THERE WAS NO THREAT. We used to patrol Iraqi airspace and bomb them on a regular basis, and pretty much everyone at the UN said there is no WMDs in Iraq, as did the IAEA. Now, instead of admitting their mistake and coming home, they would rather save face and drag on a senseless war with thousands of people dead and more dying.
    • gryphon50, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1um, during the Cold War we were actually being threatened. I think that's a pretty big difference.
    • smashhell, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Oh Yeah, in Cold War there was 50 thousand Nuke pointing at us.
      And in Iraq ? Bunch of dudes with no military, no army, no Navy, no WMD. (Proven)
      They didn't even got anything to do with 911.
      WTF are we doing there ?
  • dupswapdrop, on 03/11/2008, -2/+5Now which do you think mr bush will see first the rapture or hell?
  • tboutcher, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4But the value of the dollar has decreased since the onset of the war, so its a bargain really.
  • Jamihabs, on 03/11/2008, -8/+6Accounting like this is always one sided. Reality always has at least two sides (usually more).

    It’s as if someone calculated the money one spends on regular automotive maintenance on ones car and then assumes that if one did not spend this money he/she would be money ahead. If we choose not win this war now, we will be fighting it again at a later date, perhaps with your children, and at a much higher cost in both money and blood.
    • kh99, on 03/11/2008, -2/+5This is called "rationalization".
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -1/+3There are more contractors than military personnel in Iraq. So most of that 12 billion is non-military expenses; or applied to training Iraqi forces.
    • gryphon50, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2Because you are psychic and you just know that your children would be fighting a similar war.
      • txchica, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1Take a look at our history and tell me when a generation has not been at war in the last 100 years? History has a tendency to repeat itself.
  • markjwest, on 03/11/2008, -7/+9and how much did 9-11 cost?
    • Mardala, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4not quite sure I understand what you are implying?
    • BikerDude69, on 03/11/2008, -1/+7Actually, 9/11 saved money. In fact, it was very profitable for several companies. I wish I had had some inside stock tip. Damn. - Silverstein Makes a Huge
      Profit off of the 9/11 Attacks - http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/silverstein.html
      • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2Yeah that dude cashed in lottery style. I still can't believe what an awesome swindle it was. They had been trying to tear it down for decades but it was way too expensive. Then along came some planes that conveniently flew into the towers. Shazam, a few months after an ungodly insurance policy was taken out. How convenient can you get?
        http://www.forbes.com/2004/12/06/1206autofacescan0 ...
  • xxiao, on 03/11/2008, -4/+8***** bush! sick to write more.
  • SirBrittanicus, on 03/11/2008, -4/+7Sick of the bad news. Buried.
  • emgbeeker, on 03/11/2008, -3/+10Fight them over there, so they don't attack us here...
    Saddam has weapons of mass destruction...
    Your either with us or against us...
    Axis of evil...

    NASTY PROPAGANDA DESTROYS THOUGHT!

    We've made a mess of Iraq to be sure...we should be careful NOT to let our governemnt lead us into another mess in Iran!
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -3/+1You couldn't be more wrong. U.S. should destroy Iran's weapons making capability and force regime change NOW before Obama takes office and ships nuclear reactors to Ahmadinejad.
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -2/+1Very true. My meeting this morning with a bunch of Shiite sheikhs went off safely, because we're fighting them over there. I appeciate my freedoms - my freedoms to meet with sheikhs.
      • smashhell, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Oh Yeah, in Cold War there was 50 thousand Nuke pointing at us.
        And in Iraq ? Bunch of dudes with no military, no army, no Navy, no WMD. (Proven)
        They didn't even got anything to do with 911.
        WTF are we doing there ?
  • amrhassan, on 03/11/2008, -2/+7think of how much all that money could've made for the world instead of how much death it brought :(
  • peestandingup, on 03/11/2008, -4/+11We could have used that money to become energy independent by now. Or at least be well on our way.

    Its sickening that me & my family have to suffer with paying $3.30 for a gallon of gas for this ***** war that no one believes in.

    ***** you, Bush. I hope you rot in hell.
    • Hangly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Seeing as the money is either borrowed or imaginary, I think it's best if it wasn't used at all.
  • Alex2, on 03/11/2008, -0/+6That's about a thousand dollars per Iraqi per month.
    So.. after 5 years.. you've spend 60,000 dollars per Iraqi.


    Maybe if you just gave each Iraqi 10,000 dollars, they could rebuild their own schools, infrastructure, and industry.
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2Five years? The article says in the early years 1/3 of present amount was spent. Don't know when the rate of 12 billion per month was reached.
  • apc3161, on 03/11/2008, -1/+7Assuming you were even in favor of the war, I hate how it seems no one takes cost into account.

    Conversations should go like this,

    "Is the Iraq war a good thing"
    "Of course, we are doing good in that part of the world" (assume for a second that was true)

    The next question should naturally be
    "But this will cost around $3 trillion, could we not have spent that money elsewhere and done a lot more good somewhere else"

    It feels as though no one on this planet ever takes opportunity costs into account.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost

    So for instance, pretty much everyone will agree that the biggest issue in all of the middle east is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is the core conflict from which it seems all other problems tend to spread. Our entire foreign policy in the middle east revolves around Israel and oil. Ok, how many Palestinian refugees are there? Roughly 4.5 million. That $3 trillion could have simply been $666,666 for each refugee. We probably could have bought of all the settlement areas from Israel within the West Bank ($3 trillion talks thats over 10x their gdp), and housed each refugee in a very nice apartment.

    Is that the best idea? Probably not, but it just puts things in perspectives. People shouldn't just be "for the war" they should be "For the war relative to its success and costs" i.e they need to take opportunity costs into account.
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -4/+3This isn't about the cost of the war. The post notes that the major war effort cost much less. This is about building a strong ally in Southwest Asia.
      • apc3161, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4"will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017." Direct costs only represent a fraction of the costs. You have to take into long term costs as well.

        Again, is a "strong" southwest ally is Asia worth say $1.7 trillion? Last year a total of $300 billion was spent of college education in the United States. I'm not saying this is a great example, but the amount of money we will spend could have payed for every college students education for the past 5 years. Or, that money could be turned into an "investment fund". Assuming it got back 5% interest per year (very conservative), thats $85 billion per year in interest. We spend roughly $200 billion every year on public college funding.

        So, assuming the conservative cost, 1.7 trillion, and a conservative interest rate, 5% the college education costs in this country for public colleges could have dropped by roughly 38% for every student in the country. Please take opportunity costs into account. Is an "ally " in Southwest Asia that can't take care of itself worth that?

        Taking the larger 2.7 trillion costs into account and assuming a more reasonable 8% interest rate, college education in this country would be free at all state schools. Is an ally in Asia worth that much?
    • smashhell, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2Allies with the Southern Asia and "Lose" Allies with all of the world ?
      In case you didn't know, that is whats happening right now.
      Almost every major Country in the world hate us now.
      For we are the one starting this ongoing meaningless War.
  • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -6/+0The full-blown war of the early years cost only 1/3 of the amount now pumped into Iraq? So most of current expenditures are for reconstituting infrastructure and services? Glad you grumbling gadflies were around when the Marshall Plan was active.
    • Hangly, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1Are you seriously comparing the greatest heist in world history with the Marshall Plan?
  • stevey5036, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2Tell me something I don't already know
  • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -6/+2lol, all that money and our dumb soldiers are still getting punked the ***** up by ragheads. Just yesterday another raghead wearing a suicide belt managed to wipe out FIVE of American soldiers. And to think that Rumsfeld thought we'd only have 30k troops in Iraq by the end of 2003.
    • Typhoon2009, on 03/11/2008, -2/+2Yeah, because you can obviously spot out and subdue a suicide bomber in time. Nevermind they dress exactly like civilians... you ***** idiot. Our soldiers (by our I mean everyone but you) are far braver than you.
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1Whatever. 5 dumbass US troops were apparently meeting with a sheikh or some ignorant ***** like that, when they stupidly allowed themselves to be ambushed and killed. Now their kids will grow up without fathers or whatever.

        I mean, what sorts of 'insurgency' are we talking about here? Incidents like the Malayan emergency, in which a handful of British troops with ***** equipment eventually put down the rebellion? The US is supposed to have the "best fighting force in the history of the world." Defense spending over the last few years is in the TRILLIONS.

        Six years after we invaded, Bush's military is still hobbling around, unable to control the situation. Why are American soldiers so incompetent at counterinsurgency warfare? It's not like we're facing down Field Marshall Rommel at the Kasserine Pass. These are ragheads we're talking about. Ragheads don't even know how to fight. They're not real warriors. This should be easy.

        The troops knew by the time June 2003 came around that an insurgency was in effect. Anyone in the US armed forces who did not immediately plunge himself into an intensive survey of counterinsurgency, Arabic language, and other such skills is a *****.But we both know that the military had to start letting in people with flunkout ASVAB scores and other deficiencies in order to meet the recruiting quota. It's not like 'la creme de la creme' has been deployed from our shores.
        • popfrogs, on 03/11/2008, -1/+2This war was never meant to be won, just prolonged as long as possible. The military industrial complex absolutely loves extended conflicts. Take a look back at Vietnam, have a quick glance at Lockheed Martin's 5 year stock value....all the signs are here.
  • JusticeAK, on 03/11/2008, -1/+1I guess it's just the cost of freedom (INSANITY)
  • DrewG7, on 03/11/2008, -1/+8So...$12 billion for people to die? Imagine what $12 billion a month would do for medicine? Cancer? Diabetes? Alzheimer's? I think it's about time we used this money to save countless lives, not end them.
    • bonhoeffer, on 03/11/2008, -3/+2Lower the drama. Most of that $12 bil per month goes to industrial start-up, school and medical facilities, water treatment, police and mil-force stand-up and training, etc. This will save lives and earn a valuable ally.
    • philipl411, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1It doesn't matter where you are spending the money. Its still more than we can't afford. As a country we need to learn to live within or below our means, that way, as a people we have more money in our pockets
  • ampersand2001, on 03/11/2008, -7/+3buried as inaccurate.

    you cannot put a price on human life.
    • hurt911gen, on 03/11/2008, -3/+3Agreed, people seldom remember the men and women who chose to gave their life.

      Thank you for that comment.
      • petrodollar, on 03/11/2008, -5/+2Who's the real moron - me, or some fool who rides around all day in the Iraqi desert, in a ***** Humvee, waiting to get flindered by some raghead's improvised bomb?

        Somebody done ***** up at life, and it wasn't me!
        • txchica, on 03/11/2008, -2/+6The fact that you are hanging out on digg and talking ***** says a lot tough guy. You need to get a real life and thank a soldier for not kicking your butt for calling them dumb and morons, oh wait I'm sure that with your superior intellect you'd be smart enough to run before you get your butt kicked.
    • reinventit, on 03/11/2008, -2/+4and don't forget the 90,000-100,000 dead Iraqis.... or the 4,000,000 displace Iraqis much less the 4,000 US troops who died fighting for OIL. There isn't any honor in this war and that is the saddest part.
  • nutniqs, on 03/11/2008, -1/+4GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT
  • forzaferrara, on 03/11/2008, -3/+11***** WAR.. we'll never be free with war, we're a bunch of ***** slaves paying for a war with a made up enemy
    • Bidger, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2War the perfect excuse for a govt to steal your money and freedom
      • philipl411, on 03/11/2008, -0/+1so what government program is a good excuse for stealing my money?
  • forzaferrara, on 03/11/2008, -3/+1***** WAR... we'll never be free with war, we're slaves paying for a war against a made up enemy
    • Jamihabs, on 03/11/2008, -0/+4I'm glad our founding fathers had more courage than you.
  • thecatcantalk, on 03/11/2008, -0/+2Isn't this how King Louis X bankrupted France? By draining the nation's treasury down to nothing on endless wars on three fronts? But at least they got cool recipes for onion soup and snails in butter out of it, when the famines came and you couldn't buy bread anywhere in Paris. Seriously, can't we make Mad King George pay it back out of his allowance? Or force his children to work as suicide bombers against the Iraqis? Now that would be a viral video!
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