What price victory?

Pentagon Wants $99.7B More for Wars

The Pentagon wants the White House to seek an additional $99.7 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to information provided to The Associated Press.

The military's request, if embraced by President Bush and approved by Congress, would boost this year's budget for those wars to about $170 billion.

Overall, the war in Iraq has cost about $350 billion. Combined with the conflict in Afghanistan and operations against terrorism elsewhere, the cost has topped $500 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

The additional funds, if approved, would push this year's cost of the war in Iraq to about $50 billion over last year's record. In September, Congress approved an initial $70 billion for the current budget year, which began Oct. 1.

The budget request includes:

_$41.5 billion to cover the costs of ongoing military operations.

_$26.7 billion for replacing and repairing equipment damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

_$10 billion for body armor and other equipment to protect U.S. troops from attack.

_$2.5 billion to combat roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices.

_$2.7 billion for intelligence activities.

Whatever request emerges from the Bush administration will go to a new Congress controlled by Democrats highly critical of the Iraq war and Bush's handling of it.

"Democrats are committed to ensuring our troops have all that they need, but we're going to return oversight to spending on the war," said Jim Manley, spokesman for incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Our troops must have everything they need, but Halliburton shouldn't get everything it wants."

Halliburton Co. (HAL) is a Texas-based oil services conglomerate once led by Vice President Dick Cheney. Bush administration officials have come under fire since the beginning of the war in Iraq for awarding more than $10 billion to the company and its subsidiaries in 2003 and 2004, some of it in a no-bid contract. There have been allegations of fraud, poor work, overpricing and other abuse, which the company has denied.


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Meanwhile, back at the ranch...


Money to Treat 9/11 Workers Will Run Out, Officials Say

The roughly $40 million that was set aside by the federal government to treat rescue workers, volunteers and firefighters who became ill after helping with the 9/11 cleanup and recovery will run out in months, physicians and federal officials said yesterday.

Members of Congress from New York and New Jersey secured $75 million a year ago to pay for health care expenses — including $40 million for treatments like drugs and medical procedures — for about 32,000 workers who reported ailments after working at ground zero.

Officials at the two major monitoring and treatment programs, one run by Mount Sinai Medical Center and the other by the Fire Department, said yesterday that at the current spending rate, the treatment money would run out by spring or summer. They told top federal health officials that unless more financing was provided, they would be forced to notify thousands of patients that their treatment could soon end.

If all the workers needing treatment were to receive it, according to a new estimate by federal officials, the cost could exceed $250 million a year — a figure that may well meet with resistance from lawmakers in Washington, who are facing intense budget pressures. Several Democratic legislators have said they will make 9/11 health a priority when their party takes control of Congress next month.

If all the workers needing treatment were to receive it, according to a new estimate by federal officials, the cost could exceed $250 million a year — a figure that may well meet with resistance from lawmakers in Washington, who are facing intense budget pressures. Several Democratic legislators have said they will make 9/11 health a priority when their party takes control of Congress next month.

$170B which will undoubtedly lead to more death and destruction, vs. $250M to save the lives of the men and women who came to the country's aid in time of crisis.

He is willing to spend billions on Iraqis, but can’t be bothered to take care of the Americans who came to the rescue after 911. He’s willing to spend billions on Iraqis while American rescue workers languish and die for lack of medical resources.

He’s putting the welfare of Iraqis above that of Americans. Face it, all you workers and first responders, he’s already gotten what he needed from you; a great little photo-op, support for his war, and your vote in 2004. You have nothing else he needs so feel free to flock off and die.

When Bush was sloganeering on that pile of rubble human corpses, bullhorn in hand, arm draped around a rescue worker, he promised justice. He said he wanted the rescuers to know that all of America was deeply grateful for their efforts.





Silly rescue workers. What you didn't realize was that justice and gratitude would come only in the form of war.




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