Because Shifting Money Around Is So Counterproductive

Gates seeks $190 billion for wars - 26 Sep 2007 at 10:56am - WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates will ask Congress Wednesday to approve nearly $190 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, increasing initial projections by more than a third.... Congress should approve the request as quickly as possible "and without excessive and counterproductive restrictions," Gates will tell the Senate, according to his testimony. Doing so, he added, helps the Pentagon to better manage its resources and avoid shifting money around, which often requires additional cash.

Only $190B for another year's worth of destabilisation of the middle east -- what a deal.

Iraq leader says flow of arms must stop - 26 Sep 2007 at 1:44pm - UNITED NATIONS -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday that the continued flow of weapons, suicide bombers and terrorism funding into his country would result in "disastrous consequences" for the region and the world.

Including the flow of weapons into his country from the United States?

Bush thought Saddam was prepared to flee: report - 26 Sep 2007 at 1:12pm - MADRID (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein was prepared to take $1 billion and go into exile before the Iraq war, according to a transcript of talks between U.S. President George W. Bush and an ally, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Wednesday. During a meeting at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on February 22, 2003, Bush told former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar that Saddam could also be assassinated, according to the transcript published in El Pais in Spanish.

Just take out Saddam -- plus a few dead-enders -- and, voilà: instant Mayberry RFD!

Gates to investigate contractors in Iraq - 26 Sep 2007 at 1:39pm - WASHINGTON -- Unhappy with the Pentagon's oversight of its private contractors in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has dispatched a fact-finding team to probe further into the problem.

Report: Army short-staffed at hospitals - 26 Sep 2007 at 1:49pm - WASHINGTON -- The Army has yet to fully staff the new "warrior transition units" being put together because of poor conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, according to a congressional report made public Wednesday.

Senate urges Iraq power-sharing - 26 Sep 2007 at 1:57pm - WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday suggesting Baghdad limit the power of its federal government and give more control to Iraq's ethnically divided regions.

Thought for the day:
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought. -John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)