Given the FACT the USA military is out of control as is the spending, it makes one realize why the Republicans prefer to talk about bizarre priorities, like children coming across the southern border needing the National Guard, or budget shut downs, rather than FACE FACTS.

The never ending broken back of the USA treasury.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $10.17 million for Cost of war in Afghanistan.

The fiscal cost of the Afghanistan war is currently estimated to be $4 Trillion.

...The fact remains, (click here) however, that if the CRS (Congressional Research Service) and OMB (Office of Management and Budget) figures for FY2001-FY2013 that follow are totaled for all direct spending on the war, they reach $641.7 billion, of which $198.2 billion – or over 30% – will be spent in FY2012 and FY2013. This is an incredible amount of money to have spent with so few controls, so few plans, so little auditing, and almost no credible measures of effectiveness....

Why worry about effectiveness when all that has to be planned is advancing the loss of income ahead of the end of the war. And what House of the Congress is handling the budget?

June 29, 2011
By Daniel Trotta

...The White House (click here) says the total amount appropriated for war-related activities of the Department of Defense, intelligence and State Department since 2001 is about $1.3 trillion, and that would rise to nearly $1.4 trillion in 2012....

Enough!

One question though.

All of a sudden there is this massive regional movement toward cooperation and defense in the Middle East; what the hell was Bush doing for eight years?

The USA Congress needs to get their heads screwed on straight.

Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States amounted to $638 billion in 2009-10, or about $12,743 per student.
           

The cost of war is usually just measured in dollars. I think the $1.7 trillion is about 10% of the current national debit.

Lesleigh Coyer, 25, of Saginaw, Michigan, lies down in front of the grave of her brother, Ryan Coyer, who served with the U.S. Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in this March 11, 2013, file photo. Coyer died of complications from an injury sustained in Afghanistan.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files UNREST OBITUARY)

But the losses from wars like Iraq and Vietnam run much deeper into the soul of the country. Broken lives, shattered dreams, widows with fatherless children and indebtedness no war monger cares to count.

It is estimated the cost of the Iraq war alone will result in veteran benefits in excess of $6 trillion over the next four decades. We have enough of the USA Congress volunteering our military for duty in places that don't even raise a finger to end any tensions or conflict. 

The problems in Syria are contained and at the height of unrest and IS/IS/L fears the borders of allies were secure and undisturbed. The Republican right wing can take their mercenary habits elsewhere.

(Reuters) - The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion (click here) with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

The report, the work of about 30 academics and experts, was published in advance of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.

The editor. That was the editor of "Al Arabiya" stated the ONLY thing missing in the Middle East is American leadership.

August 29, 2014
By John McCain and Lindsey Graham

...The president (click here) clearly wants to move deliberately and consult with allies and Congress as he considers what to do about ISIS. No one disputes that goal. But the threat ISIS poses only grows over time. It cannot be contained. It must be confronted. This requires a comprehensive strategy, presidential leadership and a far greater sense of urgency. If Mr. Obama changes course and adopts a strategic approach to defeat ISIS, he deserves support....

It would seem as though the Republican right wing would agree. So while the USA Republican right wing works the American public over as being war weary and calling out it's best Psy-Ops to achieve it, "Al Arabiya" is promising every USA ally will suffer from delusion and the citizens being charmed by IS/IS/L will rise up and defeat civilization.

What?

There is no chance any populous movement in the Middle East is seeking to join a radicalized government. I don't know where that comes from, perhaps fear, but one might look to Egypt to realize how much the citizens of that country have withdraw the promise of free lancing freedom to a return of a dictator. So much for brainwashing from within.

In Jordan, people are encouraged to keep their travel plans safe and it's leaders state it is going to take 20 years to rebuild Gaza.

August 30, 2014

AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry on Friday advised Jordanians not to travel to Yemen due to the current security situation there.

The ministry urged Jordanians in Yemen to exercise caution and contact the Jordanian embassy in Sanaa for any help on 009671413277, 009671413276 or 00967736412412.

It called on those who do not have to stay in the country to leave immediately.

In case of an emergency, Jordanian expatriates in Yemen can also call the Foreign Ministry on 0096265735150 or its operation centre on 0096265735166.

And for those that knew this Saudi photographer:

August 30, 2014

Prominent Saudi photographer (click here) Mohammed Ali Shingiti died in Madinah on Thursday following a heatstroke. He was in his late 40s.
Shingiti worked for more than 25 years as the head of the photography team at the Saudi Research and Publishing Company (SRPC) in Jeddah. He covered a number of high-profile events, including the annual Haj pilgrimage, for Arab News, Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-Eqtisadiah....

The Gulf Cooperation Council is promising closer cooperation and solidarity and Saudi Arabia has donated $100 million to combat terrorism.

August 30, 2014

Irish troops (click here) in the Golan Heights have been involved in a tense operation last night and today as UN troops came under attack from Syrian rebels.

Travelling in armed personnel carriers Irish soldiers extricated 35 Filipino troops from a position surrounded by rebels in the early hours of this morning under cover of darkness.

A firefight also took place between rebels and other Filipino troops on the Golan Heights today....

It would seem as though the United Nations has more information than "Al Arabiya." Quite frankly it is about time the Arab World began to be concerned about itself in a way that end the hatred among it's people of each other.

The desperate editor of "Al Arabiya" stated this Sunni-Shea hate is brand new. Never before a problem. If that is the case than why did Saddam Hussein leave behind mass graves and a dried up wetlands? 

The USA is not going to war for the sake of being the world's police. A police who is easily alarmed and woken with the least little panic by the public no matter where it occurs. War isn't about social media and the unrest it can bring, it is about preventing the unrest in the first place though benevolent governments with a military capable of defending borders. It is not about having over powering strength that can be turned on the government when a traitor or militia takes over hardware it never earned.

War is about allies and how the mass of their joint holdings can defeat any challenge. It is not about one single country having the capability to destroy any aspect of civilization of another in the blink of an eye.

The latest exploitation of the imagination is the fear of a flying IS/IS/L due to their invasion of an airport. I suppose there are some that will achieve that goal, but, that is a threat to the Syrian government. There are reports the air force hasn't fared well during the civil war. The last human rights issue were barrel bombs being dropped.

The Syrian Air Force recently disclosed their development and completion of a new type of bomb; improving upon the design of what has now been commonly referred to as the 'barrel bomb'. This domestically-produced variation has greater accuracy and higher explosive yeild than prior versions.

This footage is from Hama Governorate, dated August 26, 2014. (click here)

This is not the USA's war. It is the regions problem and they have to solve it. Providing containment has proven effective. The problem is in Syria. If Arabs are so scared of the 3 year civil war ask Putin what he is doing about it?