Columnist Jamala Rogers
For those who didn’t quite understand why opposition to the Iraq war is so important, take a look at Bush’s budget submitted to the Congress earlier this week. Now we have it in dollars and sense.
The $2.9 trillion budget includes $100 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This will be in addition to the $70 billion already approved for this year and another $142 billion for the next year. A hefty increase is in store for the Pentagon in spite of their miserable performance record.
And speaking of wasteful spending, the president can ask for this big chunk of money with a straight face after a 600-page report on big-time fraud by his war profiteers.
Just like when Bill Roberti was at the helm of the St. Louis Public Schools, a signal (or sometimes a special invitation) is sent out to opportunists of all ilk to come to the feeding trough. No-bid contracts and no accountability breed shoddy work, fraud and outright stealing.
It’s no different in Iraq, except the dollars at stake are out of this world. Robert Greenwald’s documentary “Iraq for Sale” captures a glimpse of the scale of corruption and negligence.
The recent report on fraud in Iraq nearly takes your breath away. The quarterly audit is done by a special inspector general for Iraq’s reconstruction. The auditor, along with others who have peeped the game, has been telling us about the spending binges for a while but no reins have been put on the runaway horses. Hundreds of millions of dollars will never be accounted for.
Cited in the report is $44 million for a police camp which includes a non-authorized swimming pool and VIP trailers. It’s a double whammy to know that the camp is not even used.
The policy academy was contracted by Parsons Corp for $75 million. It was built so poorly that human waste comes through the walls. I guess they didn’t think Iraqis knew about plumbing—and by the time they figured it out, Parsons would be long gone, bags of money in tow.
So back home, with our own sorry overseers, Bush knows that he’s dealing with a finite pie. If he wants those billions for his neo-con buddies, something else will have to suffer.
Whom does he care the least about? Poor folks.
The gigantic rise in military spending will be at the expense of the poor. Social programs will take a big hit – nearly $90 billion from Medicaid and Medicare. You can believe this is only the beginning.
While we are pretending to rebuild Iraq (even as it continues to be re-bombed), the Gulf Coast of the U.S. looks like it’s been bombed with no rebuilding plan in sight.
Congress needs to hear from us that the looting of our tax coffers is over. The tired spin of fear is slowly wearing off a concerned citizenry. Yes, we’re concerned about national security and yes, we’re concerned about our troops. But we’re also concerned about where our hard-earned dollars are going and why we can no longer support a failed military strategy just to keep Halliburton and all of its subsidiaries financially blissful.
Game over. It’s time for a plan that speaks to a nation’s needs, not the greed of a few.