Afghanistan
Bush: Fighting in Afghanistan is EXCITING
War is fun!! YAY!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq.
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
cough...
What would you do with 1.6 trillion dollars?
Oops -- the question should be phrased, "What could we have done with 1.6 trillion dollars?" I apologize for the mistake.
The report includes costs not included in the administration's funding requests, including the interest on money borrowed to finance the war, an estimate of the impact on oil markets, and costs tied to treating the wounded and disabled and other related costs.
Those costs, when added to direct funding of $607 billion, push total costs for the Iraq war to $1.3 trillion, the report said. If spending in Afghanistan is included, costs could reach $1.6 trillion by the end of fiscal 2008. The report estimated that both wars could carry economic costs of $3.5 trillion between 2003 and 2017.
Tuesday Frontpage Honoring The Fallen
It has been six years to the day. Six years ago, I sat in my high school's chorus room, listening to a couple of my classmates talk nonsense about someone bombing the Pentagon and New York city. When I walked into my next class, and saw the teacher's face, I knew in a heartbeat that they weren't joking, lying or making up a story, they were talking about what had happened that morning. When we got to lunch, we saw the video on the televisions that were set up in the cafeteria, and the weight of what had happened came crashing down.
Tuesday Open Thread
- ACTION ITEM: Antiwar Tuesday. Man, it tried to die again last week --- just 3 participants. So hot and cold with that goddamn thing.
- MORE ACTION ITEMS.
- The hat is red. The opium is Afghan.
- Hope she turns out ok.
- Holy crap, I agree with something Hillary Clinton said.
- Ted Nugent is a flaming hypocrite.
- You don't want Idaho Senator Larry Craig sitting in the bathroom stall next to you. Unless you're into that kind of thing, not that there's anything wrong with that...
- Basra: British out, militia in.
- Whistleblowers in Iraq punished, imprisoned.
Friday Open Thread
Well now, what is going on today? So, I am on a really old computer right now, and there is no button to creat links. This shall be a long post.
Wednesday Open Thread
- President Bush now accepting applications for "war czar" to manage Iraq and Afghanistan. Three generals have already rejected the offer.
- "The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job. Sheehan said he believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq.