From the Pioneer Press:
Democratic senate candidate Al Franken wants the United States to recover $7.1 billion in unspent Iraq reconstruction funds and wants the U.S. to spend “not one cent more” on reconstruction.
“That will put pressure on the Malaki government,” Franken said Monday.
From the Star Tribune:
“I say we send not one more cent of taxpayer money to fund the Iraq reconstruction while the Maliki government is running surpluses and failing to pay for the rebuilding of the country,” Franken said at a State Capitol news conference.
He added that Congress also should eliminate reconstruction funds in pending bills and set a “responsible timeline” for withdrawing U.S. troops.
Franken also charged that Coleman failed to hold hearings to oversee where reconstruction money was going while he was chairman of the Senate permanent investigative subcommittee from 2003 to 2007.
From MPR:
Franken says the money should instead go to pay for infrastructure improvements in the U.S. He says it’s time for the Iraqi government to pay for its own reconstruction using its $50 billion budget surplus.
“There’s a line between being responsible for rebuilding a country that you have helped destroy, and being a chump — and I think we’ve crossed the line,” Franken said.
Loading ...
Franken has been correctly harping on the “Pottery Barn Rule” for years. Where Colin Powell forewarned that “if you break it, you bought it.”
At some point we need to get out from under, instead of paying for damages forever. But that has to be defined in detail.
The US contractors siphoning money to rebuild what we broke, haven’t been too good at getting it done.
Us just screaming that we’ve had enough - we’ve paid enough, isn’t an adult tactic either.
What I have found exceedingly pathetic, is the lack of stated goals for Iraq which really MEAN anything from the morons in the white house. N
o hint of a PLAN! No End Game that is achievable in even one generation’s lifetime. We need a REAL reason to do anything in the mideast.
Without a plan, all we do is kvetch about incidentals and wander aimlessly as a country.
Don’t tell me there’s a double secret plan — that’s stupid. A plan helps to define the bounds & roles for all parties concerned.
I have this wrenching feeling that the “tough talk” & saber rattling to the Russians, especially by a guy who is merely “McCain, the weak candidate”
like Alexander Haig’s “I’m in Charge” declaration, is just a precursor of the next escalation intended to convince us we need to control the oil in the region.
I guess I drifted a little afield in my post.
Yes, its time we had bridges at least as good as those in Iraq.
Yes, we need to patch the roof at home, instead of bungling up someone else’s.
Let’s not let KBR & Halliburton build OUR bridges.
Cheney is rich enough already.
Neither the Press nor MPR’s stories as quoted mentions Coleman. The STrib’s only has his named mentioned in a sentence about Al Franken. So …
“Coleman’s Culture of Dependancy” … you are stretching the truth so far because you can’t win on issues alone.
@ Sean2
You have to click the links, dumb ass.
Lest you misconstrue. Each article mentions Coleman specifically.
Sean2
Each article mentions Coleman specifically. God, you and your ilk are a bunch of quims.
I’m iffy about the position that states we should bomb a country into oblivion while wrecking all their basic services for reasons that turned out to be mistruths or outright lies and then telling the country that we’re done helping to pay for reconstruction.
I specifically mentioned “as quoted.” There’s a reason to embed quotes, and it ought to back up the intent of the entry. These don’t.
There you go, resorting to hateful attack rhetoric. Why should I expect anything different.
Are you suggesting that people here are learning nasty behaviors from NeoCon Republicans?
To get back to the original topic (Iraq reconstruction, not who is a bigger douche), why is Senator Coleman allowed to blow off his participation so completely? The Investigations Subcommittee was the ideal venue for investigating corruption in the United Nations, but when it comes to investigating a waste of American resources, with the acquiescence of the US government, it’s for someone else to look into. Senator Reallyindependentfrompresidentbush gets a sudden case of the propers when it comes to investigating one of his own.
It is bad enough that it happened. What makes it worse is that the MSM will let him get away with it.
Randy, you nailed it.
Coleman didn’t do a thing except be an apologist.
He ranted like a lunatic about Oil for Food when he could score points against the UN & Kofi Annan & before any investigation was in.
But did he investigate ANYTHING else? OR was he just a roadblock?
He is a disgrace to Minnesota.