Where does the money go?

[Ivo Skoric]

That's what Kerry should ask over and over again. We should see 
detailed accounting of DoD on Iraq.

The Roman empire failed when its legions lost the will to fight for 
it. When they felt betrayed by their government.

During the wars of Yugoslav succession, the exiles were instrumental 
in supplying their brethren with modern tools of war from the U.S. 
There are tales of Croatian-Americans sending night-vision goggles, 
kevlar vests and two-way radios to Croatians fighting against the 
Yugoslav Army and Serb insurgency in Krajina in 1992. There is even a 
book (by Stacy Sullivan) about Albanian emigres in the US supplying 
the same equipment and more to KLA in 1999. This is understandable - 
those 'armies' were really rag-tag bunches of ill-equipped 
individuals, and their 'countries' did not have billion dollar budget 
at their disposal. Help of emigres was needed and welcomed.

But, why are there stories about bake sales in small towns across the 
US to buy the same items for the American soldiers in Iraq? War in 
Bosnia demonstrated the advantages of personal body armor in the 
warfare with no rear troops. Every US soldier in Iraq should have 
personal body armor. With the budget nearly equal to the GDP of 
India, Pentagon should supply them, not mommy's cookie sales! What do 
they do with all this money? Pay fat corporations to build unoperable 
missile systems? Pay Halliburton to bring some overpriced 
contaminated fuel to the troops? This is disgraceful.

So, the soldiers write letters to Michael Moore, complaining about 
conditions in Iraq. And they disobey direct orders that would send 
them to death for nothing (an attempt to deliver contaminated fuel - 
already rejected by one base - to another).

And the money is taken from those who don't have it - from Iraqis. 
People with memory would remember how did reparations forced on 
Germany after WW I influenced the history of Europe. Yet those 
lessons seem not to be learned. Iraq is today, under the puppet 
government installed by the occupying forces, milked for reparations 
to pay multinational corporations for their loss of profits due to 
wars and sanctions. While the people are starving, living without 
sewers, reliable water, power and fuel supply. Another disgrace.


http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1005-22.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/international/middleeast/16platoon.h
tml?oref=login&th
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1015-01.htm


ivo