Repubs "set aside 20 million dollars for a post-war victory party"

[ProSense]

Congress approves 20 million USD to celebrate victories in Iraq, Afghanistan

13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republicans in Congress optimistically have set aside 20 million dollars for a post-war victory party once the US military tames raging insurgencies and violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The measure, inserted into a defense spending bill, would empower President George W. Bush to designate "a day of celebration" to commemorate US military success in both key fronts of the US-led war on terror.

The bill also allows the White House to "issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities."

Lawmakers originally envisioned that the victory celebration could be held as early as this year, but the measure passed last week measure allows the funds to be rolled over into 2007 if need be.

Opposition Democrats in Congress issued a statement saying the Republican administration should focus more on winning the war, and less on planning the victory fete.

"Instead of focusing on party planning and public relations, his administration needs to change course and get on the path to victory," said Rebecca Kirszner, a spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

"Staying the course will not work. It's time for a new direction."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061004/pl_afp/usiraqvictorypolitics_061004190753

[John Gauger]

1. They get to use our money to throw a kegger?

What the hell is wrong with them?

[Jack from Charlotte]

6. With compound interest, by the time that war ends........

there will be billions of dollars in that fund for one hell of a party. Of course, all the dead people that can't attend just means more food and drink for the rest of us.

[HughBeaumont]

2. Tax money to celebrate blood rivers, dead women, torture and infanticide?

And there are people that still think Shitpublicans have your best interests in mind?

[NEOBuckeye]

3. Delusional fools

And they say that liberals are clueless. Conservatives/GOPers are so averse to facing forward -- and reality -- that they collectively have their heads up their asses.

[Rocknrule]

4. They actually plan on ending this war?

[ronnykmarshall]

5. How about HEALTH CARE?

The ones that make it home alive are going to need it!

[OzarkDem]

8. No kidding

and funds for research into medicine and high tech?

[Botany]

7. DU ?

Where can i find how Rep. Deb Pryce R OH
voted on this?

Seems to me that info would be deadly in an ad.

[OzarkDem]

10. It would be in the Defense Spending Bill

passed last week. It sounds as though the budget item was rolled into the overall defense budget bill.

Possibly this one. No doubt she voted for it.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.02863:

[John Gauger]

11. You should check out the library of congress's website

They may have such a record. thomas.loc.gov.

[Cha]

9. Those sick fucks..this is one big fucking

red political ploy to brainwash the masses into thinking there's going to be a fucking victory when our soldiers are being killed and maimed on a daily basis.

Did any Dems fall for this shit?

[ProSense]

12. Reality Spoils "Commemoration of Success"

WEDNESDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2006

Reality Spoils "Commemoration of Success"

"Eight United States soldiers were killed Monday in Baghdad ... the most in the capital in a day since July 2005. Four of the soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack; the four others were killed by small-arms fire in separate incidents," reports the New York Times today. Juan Cole adds that there have been 23,416 US casualties in the Iraq war, and that 21 GIs have been killed since Saturday.

Cole contends that "the Department of Defense is using flimsy excuses for not revealing the nature and severity of the wounds GIs receive" and that we have to read local newspapers to get the real stories. A Kerrville, Texas story about a wounded soldier reports that "a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Fort Wainwright said she could not verify the injury or discuss any soldier’s condition without the soldier’s permission," but the soldier's aunt told the paper that he has "a piece of shrapnel in the back of his neck near the brain stem."

But, never fear. Victory is just around the corner. Congress set aside $20 million in the military spending bill for this past year to "pay for a celebration in the nation’s capital 'for commemoration of success' in Iraq and Afghanistan" and to “issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” What kind of ceremony would you like to see?

The bill has a built-in roll-over for next year. Alas, the year 2007 doesn't look so great either:

Bob Woodward . . . writes in his new book . . . that things are going to change in Iraq in 2007. They are going to get worse. The intelligence division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff circulated a secret intelligence estimate in May predicting that violence in Iraq will not only continue for the rest of 2006 but increase thereafter, according to an advance look at "State of Denial" by The Washington Post. (Journal News, viaMcJoan's story at Daily Kos)

More about those injuries: Juan Cole cites the story of a Whitman, Mass. soldier lost both lower legs. The Whitman VFW Post and Legion have raised $8,000 to assist in his recovery. The Texas soldier is the beneficiary of "a benefit account" established at the Wells Fargo in Kerrville, Texas.

more…

The Costs of War: Votevets.org survey of Iraq/Afghan war vets
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2309818&mesg_id=2309818