Tag: Pentagon

 

President-elect Barack Obama’s adminstration will inherit a $1.2 trillion budget deficit for 2009 according to the forecast by the Congressional Budget Office.

Unfortunately for the United States, despite owning more than $1 trillion of American debt, China has hinted that enough is enough. Rather than continuing to spend “as much as one-seventh of its entire economic output buying foreign debt”, Beijing now plans to pay for its own $600 billion economic stimulus plan.

China’s timing is unfortunate for the American economy, since the federal budget deficit is likely to swell past $2 trillion in 2009 when Congress passes a further economic stimulus measure. The CBO forecast also does not include the ongoing spending for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Where is Obama going to find the money to restart the U.S. economy?

Earlier today I received an e-mail from an on line friend, she is the wife of a military serviceman now serving in Iraq, she is also very active in support of her fellow spouses and the families as well as returning OIF and OEF military personal seeking needed help but finding the going sometimes extremely troubling, confusing or denied.

Many of us Veterans have found her and she us and have gotten to know her through our own advocacy of our brothers and sisters. Some are working directly with her and she with them.

She has written a very personal letter, the title I used above is the one from her letter to us, of her experiences and feelings, as a military spouse, and while posting it on a few sites it has now found it’s way to a number of other sites.

In the spirit, perhaps, of the Vietnam war protesters (pictured) who attempted to levitate the Pentagon in 1967, activists in Springfield, Mass. will observe the Iraq Moratorium on Friday, Aug. 15, by encircling the federal building there.

They’ll gather at 4 p.m. for a short rally, then will encircle the building and hold hands around it. The theme for the day is “Dont Invade Iran.” They are calling the action “Hands Around the Federal Building,” and say that car pools are coming from other cities. “we need 350 people to make this work. We are confident we will have that,” they say on the Moratorium blog.

That’s just one of dozens of events happening across the country, which are listed on the new, improved Moratorium website. There are always more that don’t get posted, or that only surface after the fact.  If you are planning a local action and don’t see it on the list, email the information so it can be posted and others can find out about it and join you.

The list keeps growing.  This month, two Wisconsin communities, Rice Lake and Waupaca, will have their first Iraq Moratorium actions.

The Iraq Moratorium is a simple concept.  It asks people to interrupt their daily routines on the Third Friday of every month and take some action, individually or with a group, to end the war and occupation.

The national Moratorium doesn’t try to tell people what action to take.  It offers a wide variety of options, from wearing a button or armband to taking part in a demonstration, and many things in between.  The important thing is that people do something.

The national website acts as a clearinghouse for information, collecting and posting events planned by local organizers and reports, photos and videos afterward.  It also offers some tips and tools for organizers to use.

It’s almost an exaggeration to call it a shoestring operation.  It operates on virtually no money with a volunteer crew. (Disclosure: I’m part of the volunteer core group that tries to keep it growing.)

Given its almost non-existent resources and media blackout of antiwar actions, it’s first year record is somewhat remarkable.  There have been more than 1,200 actions in 41 states and 240 communities since the Moratorium began in September 2007.  No one really knows how many individuals also observe the Moratorium in some way on the Third Friday of the month,  but it’s a significant number.

As Iraq Moratorium #12 approaches, think about one thing, big or small, that you can do to help.  If nothing else, a donation would be gratefully accepted — and you don’t have to wait until August 15.

Whatever it is, please do something.

Once again the old say “A picture speaks a thousand words” can pop into ones mind.

Thomas, over at G.I. Special – Military Project starts out his latest News Letter with the following recent photo of ‘The War pResident’.

I just received the latest MoJo {Mother Jones} newsletter. Always interesting commentary can certainly be found at MoJo.

The subject title, above, was used as their leadin to the commentary linked below.

The following was their question in the newsletter:

And so it begins:

(Bloomberg)– The U.S. Army won’t be able to pay soldiers beyond June 15 unless Congress approves $108 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or authorizes a funds transfer, a Defense Department official said.

If the supplemental spending legislation isn’t enacted by then, the Pentagon will be forced to seek congressional authority to use money designated for other services to fund the Army payroll, department spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Pentagon budget officials briefed congressional staffers about the funding crunch earlier today, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed the issue in a letter to lawmakers yesterday, Morrell said at a Pentagon briefing.

If those Democrats in Congress don’t knuckle under move quickly, we’ll just have to quit paying the troops.