Have you ever wondered how to respond to the argument that the safety and well being of U.S. troops in Iraq would be further endangered if Congress cuts off war spending?
Voices for Creative Nonviolence is pleased to announce the release of a comprehensive analysis of President Bush's and the military's request for another $145 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008 (Fiscal Year 2008).
Please consider hand delivering and/or mailing this analysis directly to your representatives and senators. Visit
https://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ for contact information. You may also want to send it to the editorial board of your local paper.
You can read "Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental Spending 2008" on-line or download it from the Voices website in both Word and PDF formats here:
https://vcnv.org/iraq-and-afghanistan-supplemental-spending-2008
In this comprehensive analysis, you'll find such tidbits as:
* The military is budgeting to maintain essentially the same number of troops in Iraq throughout Fiscal Year 2008.
* An examination of Theater Maintenance versus Reset--and the fact that each is, for the most part, designed to prepare equipment for use by troops that are about to be deployed to Iraq rather than for those currently in Iraq.
* The fact that the Pentagon's procurement process for buying new weapons, ammunition and vehicles is a process of up to three years. This means that the money appropriated today by Congress will not result in these new items being in the hands of soldiers for another 1 to 3 years down the road.
* The fact that May 2008 is the earliest that any ammunition being purchased with these procurement funds will be delivered to the Army. The next earliest is October 2008. Most forms of ammunition won't be delivered to the Army until sometime in 2009 or later.
* Examples of the production schedules for Bradley vehicles, Stryker combat vehicles, installation of armor on vehicles, etc. that shows that items approved for purchase today won't be delivered to the Army for at least one year and often up to three years into the future.
To read and download this resource visit:
https://vcnv.org/iraq-and-afghanistan-supplemental-spending-2008
--Voices for Creative Nonviolence
1249 W Argyle Street #2, Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 878-3815
E-mail: info @vcnv.org
web:
https://www.vcnv.org
