RANGER AGAINST WAR: Lies, Lies <

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Lies, Lies

Lies, dripping off your mouth like dirt
Lies, lies in every step you walk

Lies, whispered sweetly in my ear

Lies, how do I get out of here?

--Lies, Rolling Stones

________


Various news outlets quote the administration price tag of the Iraq war at $10-12 billion per month. However, as recently reported in the Washington Post, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) estimates the actual cost of the war to be $720 million per day, or $500,000 per minute. Which, at $21,600,000,000 per month, is roughly double the figures being bandied about. $21.6 billion dollars per month spent on occupying Iraq, to what end?

The AFSC, a peace group affiliated with the Quaker church, is based on
analysis of the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes. As the group's estimate takes into account "not only the immediate costs of war but also ongoing factors such as long-term health care for veterans, interest on debt and replacement of military hardware," it seems a more realistic accounting than that of the administration.

The AFSC also provides alternative uses for those funds, such as stateside education programs which are getting the short shrift.

"The $720 million figure breaks down into $280 million a day from Iraq war supplementary funding bills passed by Congress, plus $440 million daily in incurred, but unpaid, long-term costs."


"In 2006, Bilmes, who was an assistant secretary of commerce under President Bill Clinton
, and Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, placed the total cost of the Iraq war at more than $2.2 trillion, not counting interest. The American Friends group used cost breakdowns and interest projections from the Congressional Budget Office to calculate the daily cost of war . . . "

The actual cost is there for all to see, yet the bargain basement price of $12 billion still zings around the airwaves.

The administration's cost estimate is as big a lie as is the war.

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9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.freewebs.com/GoDownFighting

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 2:31:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

dissidentvoice,

You have found our site mistakenly.

We do not agree with the site page you offered.

Please refrain from making any such postings in the future.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 3:20:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, you were spammed by someone whose 'site' no longer exists?! But the lies, holy cats, do those exist and multiply. And the rhetoric on Iran sounds so similar..."They are lying to the UN inspectors, they 'dissemble' as a habit."

I am very ill with being fed the same vile rotting pablum all over again.
Fear is poison as it is, adding lies to it doesn't sweeten the pot.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 9:11:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lurch said...

Urk - it seems the freeweb page has been withdrawn.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 9:29:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

labrys,

Yes, strange days indeed. But I see you retain the initial lesson given to us by our leader, namely, that "dissemble" does not mean taking our Lego toys apart.

I endured a conversation today that
went on far too long with a kindly Christian friend who was trying to convince me of the downright "evilness" of the Muslim religion, how Mohammed was a "bad man," etc. etc. "So, what's your point," I asked.

Well, of course, "they want to kill us," ergo, "I'm afraid we'll have to attack Iran." This individual has a PhD and teaches in your university system. And he is not alone. If anything gets me down, that does.


Lurch,

Thanks for being on the watchtower.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 11:16:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He teaches? OMGs....that does it, I really am going to have Scotch for breakfast. Cheers?

Friday, October 12, 2007 at 12:18:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

labrys,

Teaches. And he is not alone in his thinking amongst his fellows. The thing that pains the mind is, this in an otherwise kindly person, poisoned by fundamentalist Christianity.

Cheers.

Friday, October 12, 2007 at 1:19:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Minstrel Boy said...

i think that it was william dennet who describing the effect of religion on people said

"without religion the good people are free to be good, the evil are free to commit evil as they please. when religion is entered into the mix you have the capacity for otherwise good and decent people to commit acts of unspeakable evil."

Friday, October 12, 2007 at 5:57:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

MB,

Thank you for sharing that excellent sentiment. I feel the imposition of religion is akin to putting blinders on a horse. All things are passable that serve to honor the deity - prophet, and reduce the impact of the infidel.

Like John Lennon sang in "Imagine," "no religion, too" = true equality.

Friday, October 12, 2007 at 10:57:00 PM GMT-5  

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