$4 billion a month!

"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 08:03:18 +1000, "Alan Erskine"
wrote:


http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/stor...iraq-occupatio
n
-mid.inp

That's how much Iraq is costing just the U.S. - almost enough for a new
manned Moon program every month.

Don't forget that the US has had a sizable military presence in the
Middle East continuously since 1991 (including during eight years of
Clinton). Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia (now mothballed) for
example. The actual cost over previous years is not that great.

Despicable!

Australia did not participate militarily in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Please ask your government to take that $4 Billion a month they're
saving and spend it on a manned Moon program.

Report back your results, please.

Brian

See reply to your ignorance by "Monte".

--
Alan Erskine
alanerskine(at)optusnet.com.au
Where are the Weapons of Mass
Destruction, Mr Bush?

On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 16:01:16 +1000, "Alan Erskine"
wrote:

"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
.. .

Australia did not participate militarily in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Please ask your government to take that $4 Billion a month they're
saving and spend it on a manned Moon program.

Report back your results, please.

Brian

See reply to your ignorance by "Monte".

Apologies to Australians everywhere.

But Alan, why then are you complaining about what the United States is
spending in Iraq? Why not complain to your own government and ask them
to instead invest in manned lunar missions? Hey, if the US is spending
enough for a new manned Moon program every month, then Australia's
contribution oughta cover it after a year or so, right?

Brian

"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 16:01:16 +1000, "Alan Erskine"
wrote:
Apologies to Australians everywhere.

But Alan, why then are you complaining about what the United States is
spending in Iraq? Why not complain to your own government and ask them
to instead invest in manned lunar missions? Hey, if the US is spending
enough for a new manned Moon program every month, then Australia's
contribution oughta cover it after a year or so, right?

Brian

Some basic figures U.S. involvement in Iraq is currently 180,000 -
Australia's involvement _was_ 2,000.

2,000/180,000* 4 billion = 45 million dollars. That's based on current
figures as I don't know how many U.S. troops were originally in Iraq.

Now, we're talking about what the U.S. is _currently_ spending, not what was
spent during the actual invasion. If that figure is significant, then
Australia's _current_ Iraqi expenditure is nearly zero.

And still there is no reliable sign of any WMD which was the reason the U.S.
invaded Iraq.
--
Alan Erskine
alanerskine(at)optusnet.com.au
Where are the Weapons of Mass
Destruction, Mr Bush?

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:27:22 +1000, in a place far, far away, "Alan
Erskine" made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

And still there is no reliable sign of any WMD which was the reason the U.S.
invaded Iraq.

It wasn't *the* reason, regardless of how many times you repeat this
nonsense. It was one of many reasons.

--
simberg.interglobal.org * 310 372-7963 (CA) 307 739-1296 (Jackson Hole)
interglobal space lines * 307 733-1715 (Fax) http://www.interglobal.org

"Extraordinary launch vehicles require extraordinary markets..."
Swap the first . and @ and throw out the ".trash" to email me.
Here's my email address for autospammers:

Australia did not participate militarily in Operation Iraqi Freedom.


Report back your results, please.



You know, for the last 6 months or so I have been doing my best to argue for
the continuing support of my government for the Iraqi liberation and the
war against
Islamist in general. Then some boofhead like yourself comes out with a
statement
like the above. Don't read your papers? I read American publications via
the internet
and know that Australia's military involvment was reported. Crikey, even
President Bush invited PM John Howard to his ranch to thank him.

You don't know how much such statements ****es me off. Just to clear it up
our military involvment consisted of : (see
http://www.defence.gov.au/opfalconer/
for more details.) :

************************************************** **************************
***

Operation Falconer has included:

About 250 airmen and women and support crews deployed with a squadron of 14
F/A-18 Royal Australian Air Force Hornet fighter aircraft.
About 150 personnel deployed with three RAAF C130 Hercules transport
aircraft.
About 150 personnel deployed with two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
An Air Forward Command Element of about 70 personnel responsible for
coordinating air operations with coalition partners and providing national
control of RAAF assets.
Approximately 350 sailors and soldiers embarked on the sea transport ship
HMAS Kanimbla with a Sea King helicopter, Army landing craft and Army air
defence detachment and a specialist explosives ordnance team.
About 600 personnel embarked on Royal Australian Navy frigates HMA Ships
Anzac and Darwin, who have been part of the Multinational Interception Force
enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
A Navy clearance diving team capable of locating, rendering safe and
disposing of mines.
A Special Forces Task Group of about 500 personnel, including:
- An advance party including a Special Air Service squadron
- CH-47 troop-lift helicopters and personnel from 5th Aviation Regiment
- Specialist troops to deal with the threat of weapons of mass destruction
drawn from the Incident Response Regiment based at Holsworthy, New South
Wales
- A quick reaction support force drawn from the Holsworthy-based 4RAR
Commando unit and a Combat Service Support Group that provides the essential
logistic support necessary for all these elements to remain functional.
An Australian National Headquarters of approximately 60 personnel, headed by
the Australian National Commander, Brigadier Maurie McNarn.

************************************************** *****************

And yes we still have some troops there.

ta

Ralph

On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 07:10:49 +1000, "ralph buttigieg"
wrote:


Australia did not participate militarily in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Report back your results, please.

You know, for the last 6 months or so I have been doing my best to argue for
the continuing support of my government for the Iraqi liberation and the
war against
Islamist in general. Then some boofhead like yourself comes out with a
statement
like the above.

My apologies.

Brian

"Alan Erskine" wrote in message . au...
http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/stor...raq-occupation
-mid.inp

That's how much Iraq is costing just the U.S. - almost enough for a new
manned Moon program every month.


And it may get worse. The US military commander in Iraq has
finally admitted that he needs more troops for the job. Large
areas of Iraq, like the road between Baghdad and Jordan, have
reportedly slipped from his control.

"http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030904/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716"

Clearly, the simultaneous Southwest Asia/Middle East Wars are
both heating up and are going to squeeze NASA's budget. The
agency won't be able to afford upgrading shuttle for return
to flight while also developing OSP. One of these two things
will probably not happen. NASA might have to cut back on its
ISS contributions too.

Off topic - I think Afghanistan was/is necessary, but that
Iraq seems a wasteful diversion. Isn't it a bad idea to
divide your forces before a superior (in numbers) foe?
Custer had advantages in tactics, training, weapons, and
mobility, but they didn't amount to much before a swarm of
motivated Cheyenne/Sioux.

- Ed Kyle

"ed kyle" wrote in message
om...
"Alan Erskine" wrote in message
. au...

http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/stor...raq-occupation
-mid.inp
Off topic - I think Afghanistan was/is necessary, but that
Iraq seems a wasteful diversion. small snip

Agreed; Afghanistan was necessary and Iraq _is_ a waste of time, resources
and lives. To what end, freeing the people of Iraq when over a billion live
in China, another couple of hundred million live in dictatorships in other
parts of the world - some of which are at least as bad as Iraq?
--
Alan Erskine
alanerskine(at)optusnet.com.au
Where are the Weapons of Mass
Destruction, Mr Bush?

"Alan Erskine" wrote in message
u...

http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/stor...raq-occupation
-mid.inp

That's how much Iraq is costing just the U.S. - almost enough for a new
manned Moon program every month.

Wait a minute! $4 billion in 1963 dollars!! That's probably $35billion in
2003 dollars (probably close to $50billion), at least. But a one year
occupation of Iraq will cost about the same as the moon program, that's
right, which is comparable to the cost of one year war in Vietnam.