Events USA : $65.8 billion overseas operations

[directfiesta]

wow ... so much money given to '' democratize '' countries ...
After all, the track record is great ( Irak, Afghanistan, Egypt, Lybia, etc ...)

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.

ISIS has a hard on ....

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

?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..

.. am i confused?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-rebels-jordan

http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/officials...ase-in-jordan/

hasn't this already happened?

are they simply talking about needing more money to train a different group of fighters?

[directfiesta]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

.. am i confused?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-rebels-jordan

http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/officials...ase-in-jordan/

hasn't this already happened?

are they simply talking about needing more money to train a different group of fighters?

up to very lately, the US has basically denied or minimized their involvement in Jordan ...

The Pentagon said last October that a small group of US special forces and military planners had been to Jordan during the summer to help the country prepare for the possibility of Syrian use of chemical weapons and train selected rebel fighters.

.. just a few folks helping in case ...

[Rochard]

The never ending circle jerk.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Payola and kick-back money, with a little bit of vested self-interest thrown in, due to the cozy relationship between politicians and the military-industrial complex. Much of the taxpayer "assistance" money flows directly to companies like Halliburton, Xe (formerly Blackwater), Carlyle Group, etc.





ADG

[crockett]

Chump change if you consider the money made by US industries world wide..

"The 2013 profit totals are in for the big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell. Their financial reports indicate that they earned a combined total of $93 billion last year, or $177,000 per minute."


Granted BP isn't ours but that's just a single industry, and the US butting it's head into other countries business allows corporate mongrels the ability to reap massive profits world wide. That's why the US dollar is the defacto currency world wide, because no one has the ability of the US industrial empire.

This is why I laugh when people think China will ever be top tog and take over the dollar's spot. They don't have the industry or the ability to back it world wide like the US does.

No one can, not the EU, not China, not Russia.. We are the mother fucking EMPIRE like it or not.

[pimpmaster9000]

the USA does not "give" money away for "charity" what the fuck is wrong with people HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH

only a stupid american believes his country actually "helps" others LOL...

the money is used to enforce US corporate interests at the great cost of the country that is receiving the "charity"....

the funds are spent on meaningless bullshit that does not promote the local economy in any way and just leaves the locals in more and more debt...

In my country it went to local US butt kisser politicians...

the USA is a cancer to the world and thank god there are countries like russia and china to keep the US corporate government at bay...

[slapass]

Originally Posted by crockett

Chump change if you consider the money made by US industries world wide..

"The 2013 profit totals are in for the big five oil companies?BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Shell. Their financial reports indicate that they earned a combined total of $93 billion last year, or $177,000 per minute."


Granted BP isn't ours but that's just a single industry, and the US butting it's head into other countries business allows corporate mongrels the ability to reap massive profits world wide. That's why the US dollar is the defacto currency world wide, because no one has the ability of the US industrial empire.

This is why I laugh when people think China will ever be top tog and take over the dollar's spot. They don't have the industry or the ability to back it world wide like the US does.

No one can, not the EU, not China, not Russia.. We are the mother fucking EMPIRE like it or not.

And yet these other countries do just fine and have less debt personal and governmental. hmmmm. The idea that we need our military todo business worldwide doesn't hold water. Japan is a huge industrial power and has almost no military.

[ilnjscb]

spending on pre-primary through secondary education 45bil
spending on overseas operations 65bil

Let us know how that works out

[Barry-xlovecam]

Fuck me once shame on you,
Fuck me twice shame on me,
Fuck me over three times ...

These ''freedom fighters'' are only looking after their own interests and power base. They don't represent the interests of their common countryman nor those of the Western world.

Better to spend 1/10 of this keeping them in their ''box'' where they belong.

My enemy's enemy is my friend until he decides to be my enemy with the weapons I gave him ...

[seeandsee]

they support democracy