Iraq War Update: Stiffing US Soldiers in Iraq to Pay for New War Toys

Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, declares in an inteview in this Sunday's issue of the New York Times magazine that the Iraq invasion "may end up being one of the worst disasters in American foreign policy." She also states that Saddam was not an "imminent threat" (to the US).

Meanwhile, Think Progress blog (part of American Progress think-tank) reports on the much-criticized Secretary of Defense: " Rumsfeld is arguing that there is nothing wrong with the Iraq war planning — but if there was anything wrong it wasn’t his fault. He’s blaming the combat commanders and the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

And finally, it came to light today that a large portion of the last Bush Administration "war time" emergency appropriations bill, requesting an additional $120 billion to fund continuing US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is...well, not being used for the troops. Instead, per AP, " 'They've hijacked the bill to spend money on their toys,' said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group....

" 'You have the V-22, which isn't even ready for fielding and it's getting money in the supplemental.' The V-22 is but one example of the Pentagon and lawmakers using the mammoth bill to skirt limits on the already rapidly growing defense budget....For example, there's more than $3 billion in funding for an ongoing overhaul of the Army that the Pentagon admits isn't directly related to fighting the war."

But, my friends, that's not the most despicable aspect of the Bush Administraton's latest misuse of funds earmarked for the War in Iraq. In order to pay for their new war "toys," Donald Rumsfeld and the Republican-led Senate Appropriations Committee are stiffing our soldiers on battlefield essentials, including:

-- Cutting funding for night vision goggles;
-- Cutting funding for equipment for destroying mines and explosives;
-- Cutting funding for fire suppression systems for light armored vehicles;
-- Cutting funding for new vehicles that can be transported into battle.

But of course, that's exactly why all Iraq War appropriations requests come in emergency supplemental bills: so the administration can use the funds as they damn well please once the fast-track request is approved by Congress.

As AP explains it, "Generally speaking, emergency war funding bills get less scrutiny than the Pentagon's regular budget. And since they provide crucial funding for U.S. troops and equipment, most lawmakers are reluctant to criticize the bills."

If all this wasn't enough to spoil the last of your Spring break, be sure to read Iraq War Statistics and Results as of April 2006, for a quick-reading summary so you can be part of the conversation.
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