US House Rejects Measure to End War on Terror

[Chef Ramsay]

Affirms Status Quo in $601 Billion Military Budget

Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D – CA) efforts to repeal the 2001 Authorization on the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which the Bush and Obama Administrations have used as the legal cover for virtually all military operations since, failed today in a 191-233 vote.

The bill had initially been seen as having some administration support, but that myth evaporated after yesterday’s fiasco in the Senate, where officials argued the AUMF had nothing to do with anything, and that President Obama would attack whomever he pleased, whenever he pleased. The officials came out for vague, non-specific changes to AUMF, but not for repeal.

This led hawks to angrily condemn Rep. Schiff’s bill, with Rep. Mac Thornberry (R – TX) accusing him of having “forgotten” 9/11. The Senate’s AUMF efforts don’t look promising either, with some now arguing in favor of “revisions” that would greatly expand the war powers to authorize President Obama’s attacks on groups not even cursorily linked to al-Qaeda.

Underscoring just how little appetite there is for even the illusion of change, Rep. Adam Smith (D – WA) introduced an amendment to allow transfer of Gitmo detainees, something President Obama demanded, and that too was rejected. The White House had threatened a veto if they didn’t get this, but where they stand now is unclear.

In the end, the $601 billion military spending bill, which was bigger than even the Pentagon sought, passed easily in a 325-98 vote, and is now just waiting for the Senate to come up with their version, so they can reconcile the two.

More @ http://news.antiwar.com/2014/05/22/house-rejects-measure-to-end-war-on-terror/
Yep, we got it like that. Meanwhile, each newly born owes ~$50k before they take their first breath. Thx to BTC, people can now opt out and flee if they need to, esp if the police state keeps roaring to new heights.

[Bogleg]

There will be another major war coming.

[newIndia]

There will be another major war coming.

And that war is likely to bring an end to life on earth.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/aumf_n_5373381.html

[Charlie Prime]

Meanwhile, each newly born owes ~$50k before they take their first breath. Thx to BTC, people can now opt out and flee if they need to

People so immoral as to enslave children who haven't been born yet, and kill brown people in sand for no good reason, deserve to spend a decade in abject poverty.

[bitsmichel]

Why would theh US stop the war on terror?    this is not profitable.

[bryant.coleman]

This is insane. A $600 billion defence budget? The United States spends more on waging war, than all the other nations in the world combined. Time has come to stop this war machine.

[commandrix]

Send about half of that money to NASA and let them get on with manned missions to every planet in the solar system already. Do people hate us? Sure they do and what we really need to do is use EXISTING megaweapons to wipe all the wannabe Osama bin Ladens off the face of this planet. We don't really need to make any more.

[bryant.coleman]

Do people hate us? Sure they do.

This is what the US get after spending trillions of USD on waging wars all around the world. Things have changed for the better. No one needs a world police right now. That era is over. The quicker the American politicians realize that, that much better.

[RodeoX]

For me the most insulting part is that the people who make these rules never fight. They just send the poor to die for their asset protection. I'd like to see a blowhard like Dick Cheney in combat. At least the Kings in old Europe led their troops into the fray. Our leaders are all big mouth cowards.

[bryant.coleman]

For me the most insulting part is that the people who make these rules never fight. They just send the poor to die for their asset protection.

That is the rule everywhere. While the poor village folk are sent in as the cannon fodder to the front-lines around the world, the politicians and the bankers will sit back on their luxurious apartments sipping expensive champagne, watching the war live on their 84" LED TV. There is no better entertainment than watching a war live on the television.

[sana8410]

Republican House members don't want to give up the authorization to use military force because in the future they may want to use it on the Democrats.

[Rigon]

Republican House members don't want to give up the authorization to use military force because in the future they may want to use it on the Democrats.

You don't give up a juicy tool that can help you seize power and cling on power. Fear, them, fake patriotism, are their favorite and primal tools of relevance. Take them away from them and...they are obsolete. You don't need to be a qualified intellectual people's servant if all you have to do is to say "No," no to everything.

[bryant.coleman]

Republican House members don't want to give up the authorization to use military force because in the future they may want to use it on the Democrats.

lol.... can happen sooner than you expect.

BTW... I wonder what would have happened if Romney was the POTUS.

[u9y42]

Send about half of that money to NASA and let them get on with manned missions to every planet in the solar system already. Do people hate us? Sure they do and what we really need to do is use EXISTING megaweapons to wipe all the wannabe Osama bin Ladens off the face of this planet. We don't really need to make any more.

Or, you know, capture them and get them to a fair trial. Killing people indiscriminately will tend to make people hate you even more.

Republican House members don't want to give up the authorization to use military force because in the future they may want to use it on the Democrats.

lol.... can happen sooner than you expect.

BTW... I wonder what would have happened if Romney was the POTUS.

Same thing as with Obama, I'd wager. These guys are little more than glorified puppets in the hands of large concentrations of power.

[commandrix]

Send about half of that money to NASA and let them get on with manned missions to every planet in the solar system already. Do people hate us? Sure they do and what we really need to do is use EXISTING megaweapons to wipe all the wannabe Osama bin Ladens off the face of this planet. We don't really need to make any more.

Or, you know, capture them and get them to a fair trial. Killing people indiscriminately will tend to make people hate you even more.

You mean, let them murder people first so they can get their day in court. I didn't say anything about "indiscriminately;" that's what intelligence is for at the best of times, so you know exactly where your enemy is. We'll see how you feel when you get caught in the middle of the next 9/11.

[Nathonas]

Lol, not surprised at all. Most of the American government is bought out/  controlled by business interests, and big business is exactly the guys that benefit from war and crazy military spending. The War on Terror is a giant joke that only exists because these big businessmen can't create a real enemy after all the major wars of the 20th century. And what is better than an ambiguous enemy that could be said to exist pretty much everywhere in the world? It gives them a continued reason and justification for military operations that is easily concealed and incredibly ambiguous so it is difficult to criticize.

The War on Terror is creating more "terrorists" (we should really stop using this word, it lost its meaning ever since politicians started using it en-masse) than it is killing. Along with the war on drugs, it's bankrupting the American public while filling the pockets of old white rich men in suits.

[u9y42]

Send about half of that money to NASA and let them get on with manned missions to every planet in the solar system already. Do people hate us? Sure they do and what we really need to do is use EXISTING megaweapons to wipe all the wannabe Osama bin Ladens off the face of this planet. We don't really need to make any more.

Or, you know, capture them and get them to a fair trial. Killing people indiscriminately will tend to make people hate you even more.

You mean, let them murder people first so they can get their day in court. I didn't say anything about "indiscriminately;" that's what intelligence is for at the best of times, so you know exactly where your enemy is. We'll see how you feel when you get caught in the middle of the next 9/11.

No, if you can get at them only after the fact, capture them and bring them to trial, like it should have been done with Bin Laden; no need to murder anyone else.

And in a sense you are advocating indiscriminately killing anyone who you suspect will be the next Bin Laden. And up to a point that's what is already happening with drone strikes; too bad it's poorly gathered information that ends up "killing" the phone of a suspect, plus anyone unlucky enough to be nearby, innocent or not. But again, I have to stress these are suspects that are being killed. Call me naive, but when possible and in the presence of evidence of their plans, I would like to see them captured and brought to an international court, where the evidence against them had to be presented before they were punished, instead of leaving their fates to the whims of a small, unsupervised and unaccountable group of people that gets together every Tuesday to decide who to kill next.

[Chef Ramsay]

Meanwhile

As many as 60 deceased Veterans stuck at LA County Morgue for past year and a half

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The bodies of 28 veterans at the L.A. County Morgue were finally moved Friday for burial to the Riverside National Cemetery.

CBS2/KCAL9 pressed the L.A. County Coroner’s Office Thursday to find out why the bodies had not yet received a proper burial after a source indicated there may have been as many as 60 veterans at the morgue for the past year and a half.

The morgue says the bodies were unclaimed and they don’t know how long the veterans were there.

The law states veterans are supposed to receive a proper burial.

The Veterans Administration says they were never notified the bodies were processed and ready to be buried.

More than two dozen bodies were transported to the Riverside National Cemetery Friday afternoon and more could be moved as they are identified.

On Friday evening, KCAL9′s Stacey Butler reported the LA County Morgue and the Veteran’s Administration were blaming each other for the mistake.

Butler reported from the National Ceremony where the bodies are scheduled for burial.

She spoke to citizens who were outraged at how the deceased vets were treated.

“I think its incomprehensible,” said Richard Burns, a Marine veteran.

“It’s kinda sad that these people don’t get the proper care that they deserve,” Burns said. “Even after death.”

Every Wednesday morning, Butler reports former Marine Corporal Burns goes to the Riverside National Cemetery and volunteers to lead memorial services for the unclaimed and often indigent vets.

Often Burns and a handful of volunteers are the only people in attendance.

By email, a spokesperson for the LA County Morgue pointed the finger at the VA.

They wrote, “…there are about 60 decedents of probable veteran status that have awaited disposition for about a year as a result of a personnel change in the Veterans Affairs office and stringent identification/eligibility processes required by the VA.”

Cindy Van Bibber, a VA spokesperson said, “There’s personnel changes every day but that certainly doesn’t take away from the service that we provide any veteran.”

She says “at no point” did the City Morgue contact the VA and tell them about the bodies piling up there.

“We definitely weren’t contacted or we would have had a service for the veteran,” she added.

Van Bibber said the process to get a proper burial should take about three days, not a year and a half.

Video segment @ http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/05/23/bodies-of-28-veterans-at-la-county-morgue-will-finally-receive-proper-burial/

[bryant.coleman]

This does not surprise me. A rise in defence spending never means anything good will happen to the soldiers.

Military spending isn't used to benefit troops

http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/05/24/funding-benefit-troops/9540681