Trout asked:


If I quoted the expense per gallon of gas in Afghanistan you would never believe me — it is absurdly high

The wages alone for soldiers is massive the cost of shipping food bullets and blankets is absurd * it always is too *

Jets don’t come cheap and neither do drone attacks Occupation armies are extremely expensive which is usually why the occupier plunders as best as possible but historically that has never come close to covering the cost — The last days of profit were from the Viking days who never occupied they just took and left

The Royal Navy of old used “press gangs” to recruit keeping costs down and expansion high in what would now be rightly considered a brutal and barbaric time

The published budget and the suppressed expenses are always massive

———————–

If and when welfare payments reach war level expenses something went seriously wrong

Food stamps per month per person at 1 in 8 as quoted by governmental sources and mainstream news represents more than the decimation of the economy in general — ( many work while receiving these benefits)

If the claim is even close to true — or just barely half true — SOMETHING went seriously WRONG

It is almost unthinkable that such waste is possible in the social services industry as to compete with genuine war expensive even if there was no massive waste in Pentagon spending

One solider — costs a wage ( the least of the expense) the bullets the food the transport and the supplies required — bombs planes tanks and so on are a massive expense

The movement of 100 tanks likely equals the payments to welfare recipients at a ratio of 1 to 1000 or higher Now do that on the scale the US has — and keep bases world wide move men equitment and so on at the greatest expense possible ( because that is what it takes to move them at all )

IF — the claim of welfare equaling military expenses to carry off a war are equal something seriously went wrong

What the hell ?
End lib

If that is true then you can guarantee that someone is lying their *** off

Corruption and so forth are published for all to see — if your quote is accurate

What your quote says can not be true unless you have bums being guarded by 20 cops at all times living in palaces

If you are naive enough to just swallow that quote — with NO questions about it being possible there is no hope for you and what you are accusing others of in your name is mostly true of yourself

rare2findd asked:

US training commander ‘frustrated’ in Iraq
Aug 20, 2009 13:27 ES
The deadly Baghdad bombings represent an obvious lapse in security, the U.S. commander in charge of training Iraqi security forces said Thursday, adding that he’s frustrated with the pace of some of the training.
The Iraqi government reacted to the bombings with a blanket condemnation and the quick arrest of several high ranking officials which it blamed for the failures.Nevertheless, the enormous toll (well over 1,000 casualties at last count) has raised considerable concerns about the nation’s ability to provide security.
Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick said he’s not certain he can complete some of the high-tech training, including for Iraq’s Air Force, by the time U.S. troops are scheduled to leave at the end of 2011.
“We must continue to develop the capability inside the Iraqi military,” Helmick said. “We are doing that as fast as we can. My frustration is we — I, am not doing it fast enough.”

~~~~~
Odd really, the more talk about pullout., the more unexplained deaths.
Who stands to gain? More than anyone, the US. An excuse to remain there ~~strange really. Who is orchestrating these attacks?

FUBAR asked:

I **** people who live under others blanket of freedom and then mock and badmouth those that provide it, my own brother looks on soldiers with contempt, my father is the same and my mother was never really supportive of me in the army, i told her about re joining and she was like i don’t want any more hastle, what hastle she maybe had 1 phone call in middle of night saying i d been a naughty boy that was it, why are people so unsupportive of the military, i know allot are but why do the others feel the way they feel about soldiers?

rare2findd asked:

…….the real plan being to blanket Baghdad with no consideration for the lives of our troops caught in the crossfire at all?

Something stinks……

========================================

12,000 more Guard troops may be going to Iraq
Deployment order planned to lessen ‘surge’s’ strain on stretched-thin Army

WASHINGTON – Coming on the heels of a controversial “surge” of 21,000 U.S. troops that has stretched the Army thin, the Defense Department is preparing to send an additional 12,000 National Guard combat forces to Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials told NBC News on Thursday..

Where are our 21,000 additional troops already deployed in IIraq? What has happened to them?
I don’t ‘disguise’ what I think and believe. If the question is above your intellectual level, perhaps not answering would be best.

DAR asked:

” With attention turning to the next big economic stimulus package, questions are still swirling about our economic troubles. How did we get here? How do we get out? As usual, Washington has all the wrong answers.

According to many politicians, we got here by not spending enough, not consuming enough, and not regulating enough. Now government, like some mythical white knight, is going to ride in to save the day by blanketing the economy with dollars, hiring an army of new bureaucrats, creating make-work jobs, and sending everyone some form of a bailout check.

The debate seems to focus on whether this will cost enough to save the economy, or if this is just a “down payment” with much more government spending to come. Talk like that would be comical, if the results weren’t going to be so tragic.

Worsening Economic Woes Ahead

The results will be worsening economic woes until we learn our lesson. But instead Congress is behaving like drug addicts who must hit rock bottom before they are ready to face reality. They are playing foolish games with the economy now because they are thinking only of political expedience. This talk of job creation is a perfect example.

Contrary to the belief of many, the goal of the economy is not job creation. Jobs can be a sign of a healthy economy, as a high energy level can be a sign of a healthy body. But just as unhealthy substances can artificially give the addict that burst of energy that has nothing to do with health, artificially created jobs just exacerbate our problems.

The goal of a healthy economy is productivity. Jobs are a positive outcome of that. A “job” could be to dig a hole one day, and fill it back up the next, or perhaps the equivalent at a desk. This does no one any good.

“The Austrian school of economics teaches that only a free market economy, unencumbered by onerous government controls, creates long-term prosperity. Politicians, however, tend to be notoriously short-sighted.”

But the value in that paycheck ultimately has to come from taxing someone productive. Some think this round-robin type of economic model is supposed to get us somewhere.

Politicians and bureaucrats have already done their fair share to ensure that jobs in the private sector are prohibitively complicated and expensive to create. They are now shocked that the economy is shedding jobs, and want to simply create hundreds of thousands of jobs to make up for the job losses, through another so-called economic stimulus package.

The private sector must be permitted to do that, but instead they are massively burdened with taxes and webs of red tape and regulation. Washington’s bandaids will only prolong this agony.
Long-Term Prosperity / Short-Sighted Gains

The Austrian school of economics teaches that only a free market economy, unencumbered by onerous government controls, creates long-term prosperity. Politicians, however, tend to be notoriously short-sighted.

I am left with these questions – who is going to be left standing to tax in the private sector to pay for all these public sector make-work jobs? Is Washington really to be considered some sort of savior for creating unproductive jobs in place of the productive jobs they eliminated?

We are at an economic dead-end and those in power are in denial.

The truth is our economic problems are due to loose monetary policy, central economic planning, and the parasitic expenses of government. Unless we assess these problems honestly, we unfortunately have a long way to go until, like the junkie, we hit rock bottom.

http://www.quebecoislibre.org/09/090115-13.htm

At least, that is what Ron Paul thinks.

Do you agree, or not? Why?
slew, I assure you I never meant to forgive other government sins by speaking out on the one.

Zenmeister asked:

In regards to our bailouts he says
“How did we get here? How do we get out? As usual, Washington has all the wrong answers. According to many politicians, we got here by not spending enough, not consuming enough, and not regulating enough. Now government, like some mythical white knight, is going to ride in to save the day by blanketing the economy with dollars, hiring an army of new bureaucrats, creating make-work jobs, and sending everyone some form of a bailout check. The debate seems to focus on whether this will cost enough to save the economy, or if this is just a “down payment” with much more government spending to come.”

“Talk like that,” Paul notes, “would be comical, if the results weren’t going to be so tragic.”
Thomas show me one quote in which Ron Paul supported Hamas. He has said many times he is not taking sides, dont come in here with your lies.
MLK you are absolutely right, Ron Paul, like Barry Goldwater, has started a grassroots movement which is spreading like wildfire. Lets hope this trend continues.
hey thomas just click on the first youtube link you posted and listen to the first 10 seconds in which he says I am not taking sides and saying who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Thanks for posting a link which proves what I said is correct. haha!
hey thomas just click on the first youtube link you posted and listen to the first 10 seconds in which he says I am not taking sides and saying who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Thanks for posting a link which proves what I said is correct. haha!
“Evil only triumphs when good men do nothing”

How many palestinian women and children have died? and then how many israeli women and children? You have once again proved your own point. The last thing America needs to do is give Israel more firepower. Hamas doesnt even have a military.
Judy’s Rabbit- If there is 1 politician I trust in this entire world, it is Ron Paul. He is truly an American patriot.

Trout asked:

Israel has acknowledged for the first time that it attacked Hezbollah targets during the second Lebanon war with phosphorus shells. White phosphorus causes very painful and often lethal chemical burns to those hit by it, and until recently Israel maintained that it only uses such bombs to mark targets or territory.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/777549.html

CNN
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JERUSALEM (CNN) — The international group Human Rights Watch is accusing Israel of firing weapons containing white phosphorus into Gaza. The group demands that the alleged practice cease.
HRW said the use of white phosphorus in Gaza would violate “the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life.”

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/12/white.phosphorus/?iref=mpstoryview

Human Rights Watch activists accused Israel of using another kind of prohibited ammunition – the white phosphorus. The substance can be used for the creation of smokescreens and in fire bombs.
In accordance with the Third Protocol of the Geneva Convention of 1983, the use of phosphorus ammunition against civilians or military objects in settlements is prohibited. However, Israel did not sign the protocol

http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/13-01-2009/106940-israel_palestine-0

Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells
The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece

According to Norwegian doctors working in Gaza’s hospitals and Human Rights Watch, Israel is incinerating its victims with white phosphorous that can burn human skin down to the bone. When used as a smokescreen White phosphorus doesn’t contravene international law, but when unleashed on a civilian population it is considered a banned chemical weapon.

Norwegian medics have also discovered people in their care contaminated with depleted uranium. Other reports suggest Israel’s use of cluster bombs in Gaza and an experimental unconventional weapon called Dime (Dense Inert Metal Explosives) developed by the Pentagon.

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10274628.html

PRESS RELEASE
Mounting evidence is emerging that Israel is experimenting new non-conventional weapons on civilian population in Gaza . “It is happening again what we saw in Lebanon two years ago”, says Paola Manduca , genetics teacher and researcher at the University of Genoa and member of New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC), “where Israel used white phosphorus, Dense inert metal explosive (DIME), thermobaric bombs, cluster bombs and uranium ammunitions and experimented novel weapons and delivery modalities. Still today there are unexploded bombs and radioactivity on the ground”.http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/417805.html
If, as recently alleged by Norwegian medics in Gaza, that civilian casualties have been found to be contaminated with Depleted Uranium that would mean that munitions used by the Israelis are clad with DU (Depleted Uranium). Such use against civilians, never mind the opposing military forces, is a war crime in itself.

Depleted Uranium is the unforgiving gift of war that keeps on giving. Any warhead – be it bullet, bunker busting bomb, missile or rocket – capped with DU will cut through the thickest steel armor plate like a hot knife through butter. On impact, the DU vaporizes to a fine toxic dust which, when inhaled, will ultimately poison anyone unfortunate to have been exposed to it. Unfortunately for Israeli soldiers if they are exposed to DU dust they will get a toxic dose just as much as the Gazans.
Link to the above
http://newsfrommiddleeast.com/?xstart=b&new=50593

incredible22 asked:

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

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Last update – 10:58 12/09/2006

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/761781.html

IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon
By Meron Rappaport

“What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs,” the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.

Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets.

In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war.

The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known to be highly inaccurate.

MLRS is a track or tire carried mobile rocket launching platform, capable of firing a very high volume of mostly unguided munitions. The basic rocket fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about 32 kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a planned altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground with smaller explosive rounds.

The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy and ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large areas of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from the intended target to the area hit.

The cluster rounds which don’t detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended.

Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that there are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To date 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the war.

According to the commander, in order to compensate for the inaccuracy of the rockets and the inability to strike individual targets precisely, units would “flood” the battlefield with munitions, accounting for the littered and explosive landscape of post-war Lebanon.

When his reserve duty came to a close, the commander in question sent a letter to Defense Minister Amir Peretz outlining the use of cluster munitions, a letter which has remained unanswered
I noticed some answers justifu using any method in wars.They actually are justifying acts like the sept11th actions.They say there is no polite war !

LadyB!™ asked:

There are many topics discussed here that divide us, do you think this is something we can agree on:

The US Marine featured in this article is a true American hero and patriot?

A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22.

Sgt. Merlin German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was continuing treatment for the injuries he suffered in combat on Feb. 22, 2005, the Pentagon said Thursday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_re_us/obit_german

His Charity’s website:

Merlin’s Miracles: http://www.merlinsmiracles.com