I don't consider Cher an idiot (she is wrong on this, though) and I consider her genuine so I have no problem quoting her.
Cher
2DAY
TRUMP,ACCUSED VETS WHO FOUGHT IN IRAQ OF STEALING MONEY
HE SAID“WOULD LIKE 2 KNOW WHO WERE SOLDIERS W/
I THINK THEYRE LIVING WELL”WTFNo one else deserves to be quoted.
I'm really sick of the faux outrage, ginned up to the max.
(I'm not referring to Cher. Like myself, Cher has disliked Donald Trump for years. That dislike would be in place whether he was the GOP nominee or not. The same cannot be said for many of the other commentators.)
So Donald Trump said some US military stole funds? (Supposedly, he may have walked it back to Iraqi soliders.)
So what?
What's wrong in that statement?
SLATE's headline for Julie Harte's May 5, 2015 article reads "The Fraud of War: U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have stolen tens of millions through bribery, theft, and rigged contracts." The article addressed how "at least 115 enlisted personnel and military officers [have been] convicted since 2005 of committing theft, bribery, and contract-rigging crimes valued at $52 million during their deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a comprehensive tally of court records by the Center for Public Integrity."
Now I'm sorry I live in a lazy country where people would rather watch 'reality' TV than keep up with what the government that's supposed to represent them is actually doing. (For those who have given up due to disgust -- as opposed to being lazy -- my apologies. I sympathize and understand completely your disgust.)
I'm sorry they're more over entertained than overweight.
But that's the reality.
It's also true everyone thinks they know everything.
I don't comment on Ukraine here.
I don't pretend to be up to speed or have any expertise.
But people who can't tell you one damn thing about Iraq since Bully Boy Bush left office love to pretend that they know something.
They don't know a damn thing.
And, again, maybe turn off the 'reality' show for an hour a day and try educating yourself to what's going on in the world -- or else just comment on celebrity gossip.
I was at the hearings on waste and reconstruction -- both the Congressional ones and the Democratic Policy Commmittee ones (those stopped the minute the Democrats took back the White House).
Here are some figures from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction's final report -- an investigation update issued in September of 2013:
SIGIR Convictions, by Affiliation of Wrongdoer, as of 8/31/2013
Other 1 (1%)
Contractor (DoD) 20 (22%)
USG Civilian (DoD) 4 (4%)
Foreign Military 3 (3%)
Contractor (non-DoD) 5 (6%)
USG Civilian (non-DoD) 3 Civilian (3%)
U.S. Military/ Military Dependent 51 (57%)
Note: Percentages affected by rounding.
In the report, you'll read of things like:
On June 5, 2013, Azubuike Ukabam, a former U.S. Army captain, pled guilty to willfully failing to notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that he had a financial interest exceeding $10,000 in a foreign bank account. While serving at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Justice in 2007, Ukabam was a pay agent responsible for receiving and processing invoices from Iraqi contractors who performed work for the Army. Ukabam altered invoices or caused them to be altered so that they showed incorrect or inflated amounts due. He then paid the contractor the original invoice amount and kept the difference -- approximately $110,000 --for himself.
The report ends with a list of pending cases and a list of convictions.
We could go on and on.
Yes, members of the US military did enrich themselves in Iraq.
All?
Of course not.
The majority of any group can usually be counted on to follow the rules and act appropriately.
But some did not.
When US soldiers gang-raped and murdered 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi on March 12, 2006, it was a crime and it was outrageous.
One of the explanations I repeatedly hear on why so many chose to ignore the courts-martial and the civilian criminal hearing is that they didn't want to think about it or talk about it because it would give people in the military a bad name.
No, it wouldn't.
A loud and public prosecution sends the message that this is unacceptable.
It says this is not the norm.
Covering it up, by contrast, suggests that a lot more people have a lot more to hide.
I find it hilarious to read the posts by Little Green you know who and others defending the military's chaste and delicate honor from that scoundrel Donald Trump -- especially because when IAVA was asking for help to protect the Post 9/11 GI Bill, these same people couldn't even repost a press release. (The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has voted to add cuts to the program.)
They are not interested in veterans or the image of the military, these gas bags offering commentary on Trump.
They are interested in making him toxic (so that toxic Hillary will appear less so).
There was an outrageous incident last month that we didn't cover because it made me too angry.
We'll cover it in the next snapshot.
But this was truly outrageous and done by a member of the current administration.
Yet all the howler monkeys coming forward today about Trump and his remarks had not a word to say then.
I doubt they were too angry to speak.
Because every time they speak, they lie, they gin up outrage and it's all in pursuit of partisan politics.
When Americans will say "enough" to these liars, they'll have to tone it down.
By the way, we didn't even touch on CERP funds, though we could have. Trump would also be on strong ground referencing those. And if you just asked, "CERP funds?"
Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi.
We don't get news from Iraq this morning because instead we get partisan pimping.
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The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Iraq
