All I can say after reading these numbers in this week's Time Magazine report on our $87 Billion in Iraqi funding is:
Hmmmmm . . .
Military Related:
$41 Billion goes to miltary operations and maintenance
$18 Billion for troop salaries
$6 Billion for military supplies
$600 Million for military fuel and truck repairs
$400 Million for military building construction
$400 Million for military related miscellaneous costs
Iraq Direct:
$6 Billion for electricity projects
$5 Billion for Iraqi police and some new courthouses
$4 Billion for sanitation projects
$2 Billion for misc. infrastructure repairs
$900 Million for water system repairs
$900 Million for healthcare and medical supplies
$800 Million for new transportation and telecom systems
$500 Million for new housing projects
$400 Million for small business loans
$300 Million to help Iraqi's learn about human rights
$9 Million to create a zip code database
$6,000 per cell phone on a contract awarded for $3.6 Mil for 600 units.
$1 Million for a memorial building to document Saddam's atrocities
$400 Million for a new prison
$40 Million contract for a computer training course to teach Iraqis how to use PC's
$50 Million contract for traffic police
$700,000 renovations contract for the homes of 10 Iraqi officials
$1,200 per DAY! Daily salary paid to British and US security guards hired to protect projects under construction by American companies. Interesting to note an Iraqi security guard is paid only $8 per day for the same exact work. The US companies bill the US government 144 times the going rate for a guard there.
Prices paid to outfit a soldier:
Helmet $322.00
Nightvision Goggles $3,250
IR Targeting Light $560
Backpack $1,031
Body Armor $1,600
M4 Rifle $920
Uniform $70
Boots $100
Aahhh, American multinational capitalism and profiteering at its finest.
