326 million dollars a day is what we are spending in Adghanistan. Any deficit reduction talk

[grahamhgreen]

that fails to cut this, is BS, IMHO.

All that to find the 50-100 al Qaeda left there?

It's a crime.

[Fumesucker]

1. Prepare then for an absolute avalanche of BS...

Because we all know damn well that the war funding will never even be mentioned in relation to cutting the deficit.

[nc4bo]

2. Not just a crime but also shows just where our government's priorities lie.

Not very encouraging is it.

[TBF]

3. K&R - can't believe this doesn't have a thousand recs. nt

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WinkyDink]

5. Crime? It's an INDUSTRY! Now, watch this thermos.

[loudsue]

6. This is America's problem from top to bottom. Anyone that doesn't understand

that America is a military-run country doesn't know what's going on here.

[blindpig]

7. Well, it's a goldmine too....

a goldmine for the masters of war, General Dynamics, Colt, Boeing, Haliburton, Xe....but that wouldn't have anything to do with it, huh?

[snappyturtle]

8. At 326 million dollars a day the U.S. could annually generate 118,990

millionaires!

[KansDem]

9. And Wikileaks shows Afghanistan is a failed venture...

I don't understand it. We are ruled by mobsters and crooks...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

10. No, it's not just to find the 50-100 Al Quaeda left there.

The goal of the US in Afghanistan is to establish a stable, prosperous, democratic state. I don't think it's achievable, but it would be a good thing if it were.

[truebrit71]

12. How about they try that HERE first?

...

[Amonester]

16. no, what they R trying here (with the help of our elected capitulators) is:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1296155071179146825#">that ultimate wet dReam of them (Soylent Green, at around 1:00:00)

And they R winning (easily). :cry:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

26. America is already one of the most stable, prosperous and democratic countries in the world

By no means the most, but certainly in the top 25% and probably in the top 10% or higher.

By all means try to improve it - there's always a great deal of room for improvement - but don't lose sight of the context: almost everywhere else (pretty much all the non-"Western" countries, and some of the "Western" ones) is *immeasurably* worse off by all three measures.

[sabrina 1]

20. That is far from the goal of the War in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is strategic to the U.S. finding a route to the Caspian Sea Oil reserves. It has been for many years.

We are there to establish OUR presence by building military bases in the 'Stan countries, like Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan et al.

We don't care about the people in these countries or whether we make their lives better or worse.

That is clear from our support, confirmed by Wikileaks, of Karamov of Uzbekistan, one of the most brutal dictators in the world. We support him financially with hundreds of millions of dollars, because as the Wikileaks cables revealed, not that we didn't know already, 'he lets us build military bases in his country'.

We are there for oil, to use Afghanistan as a route to the world's supposedly last oil reserves.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

25. I don't think that's a sensible position.

If you believe that the US involvement in Afghanistan is primarily motivated by economic self-interest, you have to believe that the potential economic gain outweighs the certain economic cost, which it fairly clearly doesn't.

[grahamhgreen]

28. They can't do that within the confines of the constitution we have subjected them too,

it's an Islamic Republic.

Unfortunately, it will never be a Democratic state until we change that, and that's not on the table.

[nashville_brook]

11. we must build schools and hospitals over there, so they don't pop up over here.

[katnapped]

13. And too many poor with money here

That's a BIG BIG problem...they and the middle class must be eviscerated of whatever money they have left.

[obxhead]

14. Another promise kept by Obama.

The continuation of massive wasteful spending on a pointless war that has no goal.

USA! USA! USA!

[sarcasmo]

15. Clinton had a surplus budget because of no major wars. As long as President Obama continues

the never ending War, the budget will keep on rising.

[fascisthunter]

17. yes... the deficit reduction is for US population

the military needs more fodder for the rich elite to wage more wars in the name of greed.

[maryf]

18. only the little people worry about the deficit...

the big guys are too busy making a profit off the weaponry, oil, and drugs...

[snot]

19. Source?

Thanks.

[BlueIris]

21. And if you think people are going to be concerned at this point, I've got a story about a hurricane

I'd like to tell you.

[leftstreet]

22. K&R

[Bigmack]

23. I dispute your figures...

You figure $119 Billion. That's for the troops, right? A million bucks per year per trooper?

What about the mercs?

ABC news guesses about 125K "contractors" in Afghanistan.

I have no idea how much that Vietghanistan is costing, but my guess is it's a lot more than $326 M per day.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. Let's just assume the $326 million figure and remember that that doesn't include

the "contractors" who are still in Iraq and being paid for the U.S. government.

$326 million/day = $13,583,333 per hour= $226,389 per minute = $3773 per SECOND

How many SECONDS of the Afghanistan war did the average person's annual income tax pay for?

3 days of the Afghanistan war is Amtrak's annual subsidy.

1.5 days of the Afghanistan war is the annual subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

But there's "no money" to fund anything but war.

[xchrom]

29. +1

[FlyByNight]

27. Excluding the wars/occupations...

...the US spends roughly double the amount spent during the height of the Cold War. Afghanistan is a narrowly targeted profitable disaster zone and Iraq has become Obama's rebranded low-key occupation. The empire is, simply, unsustainable.

The death, financial waste and destruction makes me despair. I thought Obama was better than this; evidently, I was wrong. So much for that "peace" (piece?) prize.

:argh:

[kentuck]

30. Judging from the comments here...

...these wars will come back to bite President Obama in the ass. Too bad he doesn't see it.

[RT Atlanta]

31. Kicked

since the time for recommending has expired.

Well stated!