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Too lazy to set a custom title
Industry Role:
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Punta Cana, DR
Posts: 29,586
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USA : $65.8 billion overseas operations
wow ... so much money given to '' democratize '' countries ...
After all, the track record is great ( Irak, Afghanistan, Egypt, Lybia, etc ...)
Quote:
The White House on Thursday asked Congress for half-a-billion dollars in aid to go towards opposition fighters in Syria at war with the regime of recently re-elected President Bashar Al-Assad.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the Pentagon to develop more detailed plans to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels, should Congress approve the requested funding.
In a report sent to lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday, the White House requested $500 million in aid to "help defend the Syrian people, stabilize areas under opposition control and facilitate the provision of essential services, counter terrorist threats and promote conditions for a negotiated settlement.?
The Associated Press reported that the multimillion dollar request makes up just a fraction of a larger, $65.8 billion overseas operations request sent to Congress that, if approved, would fund a number of Pentagon and State Department programs, as well as $1 billion in assistance to nations adjacent to Syria.
This latest request by the administration for aid comes merely weeks after the president outlined his foreign policy objectives during a speech last month at the West Point Military Academy graduation ceremony.
?As president, I made a decision that we should not put American troops into the middle of this increasingly sectarian civil war, and I believe that is the right decision. But that does not mean we shouldn?t help the Syrian people stand up against a dictator who bombs and starves his own people,? Obama said. ?And in helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we are also pushing back against the growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos.?
?So with the additional resources I?m announcing today, we will step up our efforts to support Syria?s neighbors ? Jordan and Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq ? as they contend with refugees and confront terrorists working across Syria?s borders.?
At the time, Obama added that he would ?work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and brutal dictators.? Now only weeks later, he appears to have taken the first steps to securing such funding.
Since nearly the start of the Syrian civil war more than three years ago, hawkish Republicans in Congress have urged the White House to take action against Assad, with Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) going as far as to travel abroad to meet with rebel fighters overseas. Others have condemned any response from Washington altogether, though, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who this week attributed the arming of fighters in Iraq as the impetus for a ?jihadist wonderland? there created on Uncle Sam?s watch and dime.
According to the AP?s Julie Pace, White House officials said the Obama administration would work with members of Congress and regional player to come to terms with what sort of training and assistance in particular would be provided to opposition fighters by the US.
?One potential option,? Pace wrote, ?would be to base US personnel in Jordan and conduct the training exercise there.?
Also last month, the Pentagon deployed more than 6,000 Marines to Jordan to conduct drills alongside military officials there.
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ISIS has a hard on ....
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I know that Asspimple is stoopid ... As he says, it is a FACT !
But I can't figure out how he can breathe or type , at the same time ....
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